Search for missing boy highlights challenges of autism
Search for missing boy highlights challenges of autism
The search for a missing three-year-old autistic boy in Laval, Que., is shining a light on the unique struggle parents of autistic children go through to keep their children safe.
The story of Adam Benhamma's disappearance near the icy Mille-Iles River in Quebec is bringing back terrible memories for Veronica Fraser, whose son James Delorey died two years ago after he wandered away from his home in Cape Breton.
"It's really unpredictable where they're going to be. You have to think of them as a cross between a someone with Alzheimers and someone escaping from jail," said the Nova Scotia woman, whose son was autistic.
Her son disappeared into a forest near their home, and was found by rescuers two days later suffering from hypothermia. The seven-year-old boy died in hospital.
Fraser said autistic children's diminished understanding of danger puts them at greater risk of injury or death when they escape their parents' supervision. Complicating matters, search teams hunting for a missing autistic child must try to find an individual who likely will not respond to rescuers' calls.
Wendy Fournier, president of the U.S.-based National Autism Association, called the communication challenges facing rescuers "enormous."
"With a child who is non-verbal like many children with autism, they don't respond when their name is called. A lot of kids won't even turn and look at you if they hear their name being called."
These challenges are being underscored by the search for Benhamma, who is deaf and mute.
Fraser said that the strong tendency of autistic children to wander off creates a constant sense of anxiety for families, who often wonder if their child is safe.
Since her son's death in 2009, Fraser has been helping Cape Breton search and rescue personnel launch Project Lifesaver, a program that uses tracking devices to help locate missing people with autism or Alzheimers.
Users wear a transmitting device that emits a tracking signal. If the person goes missing, emergency officials can be notified and rescuers can trace the signal.
Fraser is certain the technology would have saved her son's life.
"Absolutely. James would have worn it," she said, adding that children who wear the device are normally located within 30 minutes.
According to Virginia-based Project Lifesaver's website, police departments in Guelph, Ont., and York, Ont., have adopted the technology.
On March 30, U.S. researchers at the Interactive Autism Network announced the launch of a landmark national survey to study the prevalence of wandering among individuals with autism.
Fournier said she hopes this study will help parents understand why autistic children wander, as they are currently forced to take drastic measures to prevent their kids from running away.
"We have parents who literally sleep outside their child's door because they're afraid their kids are going to get out of the house. It's a huge, terrifying problem," she said.
Fournier noted that her daughter Aly is autistic, and said she has experienced the fear of losing her child — something that is common among parents of autistic children.
"One day I was sitting on the couch, drinking coffee. All of our doors are completely locked — there's no way she can get out of the house. And my doorbell rings. It's my neighbour telling me that my daughter is next door trying to get into the swimming pool. And I have no idea that she was even out of the house."
Fournier said that her daughter wears a tracking wristband, and recommended a range of measures to protect autistic children who are prone to wandering, including fences, motion detectors, and even posting stop signs on windows and doors.
For Fraser, it was fears over her son's tendency to wander that led her to move to Nova Scotia from Calgary only three months before he disappeared.
"I was very nervous about it," she said. "I thought that out here we'd have more time to find him before he got hit by a car," she said.
Fraser noted the similarity of Benhamma's disappearance to her son's in 2009.
She said she has called Laval police to offer her assistance, and has been reflecting on her son's own disappearance in the Cape Breton forest.
"He probably never thought he wasn't coming home," she said. "I really wouldn't want anyone to go through again what James went through."
