Lil’ B. is an escape artist. He has, in his very short life, escaped cribs, playpens, car seats and homes. He has mastered child-proof devices, can easily thwart deadbolts (from the inside) and can open the windows, though he hasn’t yet figured out that the screens come off.
He is also a runner. He thinks nothing of taking his small three-year old self and walking a mile down the street with no supervision. He has no concept that what he is doing is dangerous, nor does he think it’s a bad thing to do. (No matter how many times we tell him that it is.)
Last week he managed to escape the house with no one noticing. I was in the living room and heard nothing. His brothers heard nothing. W found him a mile down the road with a very nice grandmotherly type and her children, all of whom were very concerned (as was I), and trying to get him to show them where his house was.
Of course, as these were strangers, he wasn’t talking. He rarely talks to strangers. Even if he had, I don’t know that they would have understood him. He is talking, but it’s still at the level of a two year old or less, and much of what he says is only understood by immediate family and close friends.
I have finally resorted to lock sat the top of all my doors. I’ve also disconnected the inside switch for the garage door, since he’s figured out that he can get out that way, too. The house is on full lockdown at any time that someone is not directly in contact with Lil’ B., because he can, and will, defeat even these measures someday.
We’re moving to Alaska, where running off could quite literally get him killed. If anyone has dealt with and overcome this need to run that seems to be very common in autistic children, I’d love to know what you did. I could use the help with this one
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Hi Jerry,
Found your blog by searching autistic escape artist, as my 3 1/2 year old William is also an escape artist. He finds his way out of the house and runs down to the Day Care a block and a half down the road, who call the police.
I have explained to them that he is autistic and this is a trait some autistic children have, but they seem to dismiss me as making excuses for bad parenting.
We recently moved to a different house in a quiet low traffic suburb, and previously lived in a locked condominium, so this was not as big a problem then. In both houses, we have had to install a double key deadbolt because he stacks furntiure to open the latched ones. I am worried that the double key locks will present a fire hazard, but this is the only way to be somewhat sure that he is safe in the house. As he gets older, he will figure this out as well.
I am worried to death that one little slip will result in losing him to child protective services as a bad parent. Have you run into trouble with the law and or neighbors who do not understand the disorder?