Effects of Elopement on Families While parents experience many joys raising their children with autism, they may also face behaviors that are understandably stressful, such as self-injury, rigidity, aggression and meltdowns. When parents of children who elope compared the stress involved with elopement with other challenging behaviors: • More than half (57%) of parents reported that elopement was the most, or among the most, stressful of ASD- related behaviors. • Fear that a child would escape their home during the night disrupted sleep for more than 40% of these families. • Fear of elopement kept 62% of families from attending or enjoying activities outside the home, increasing social isolation. • In 2009, 2010, and 2011, accidental drowning accounted for 91% total U.S. deaths reported in children with an ASD ages 14 and younger subsequent to wandering/elopement. Issues that parents/caregivers face: • Living under great stress • Lowered quality of life • Difficulty leaving home • Sleep deprivation • Fear of accusations of neglect • Lack of support, understanding, and resources
More than half (57%) of parents reported that elopement was the most, or among the most, stressful of ASD-related behaviors.
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