The disappearance and death of Parker Wells has highlighted a startling gap in safety protections for vulnerable kids.
If you don’t know, the 11-year-old eloped from his day home in Calgary, Canada, on July 16. Because he was non-verbal and autistic, there was great concern about his safety while he was without his caregivers. After a massive search effort, a body believed to be his was found on Wednesday inside an underground stormwater pipe. So devastating.
This gut-wrenching tragedy has now sparked a large effort to rewrite local laws to better protect kids in the future.
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First of all, it’s important to understand what happened here. While authorities are still investigating the exact details of Parker’s disappearance, a common misconception is that eloping is the same as running away. It’s simply not. Elopement, or wandering, is a massive problem caregivers face when looking after those with autism, and it’s defined as any time a person leaves a safe, supervised environment without their caregiver knowing — and it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re doing so in rebellion.
It can happen due to overstimulation or the pursuit of a different sensory experience or special interest or place. It becomes especially tricky when trying to find the child, particularly those who are non-verbal or have other disabilities, because they may not respond to their name or be able to communicate they’re lost. The child may also be unaware of signs of danger. And once a child becomes exhausted, or experiences sensory overload, it can be even harder for unfamiliar people to communicate with them while they’re missing. Talk about a super scary situation and a very difficult missing persons case to solve! And this is a widespread challenge among the autism community.
According to a 2012 Pediatrics study, 49% of parents of a child with autism reported they had attempted to wander at least once after the age of 4, and terrifyingly, 65% of those cases involved a close call with traffic and nearly 24% of the group included a close call with drowning. OMG. Staggering numbers.
While many families enlist all the support systems they can to protect their child and monitor doors and exits, including additional locks, alarms, and even utilizing tracking devices, the harsh reality is it is nearly impossible for any human to have eyes on a kid every second of every day. Things happen — as they do in any family — and that’s why it’s SO important to have efficient, effective societal protocols in place to help in crisis!
Not only should law enforcement and other child-facing workers be properly educated on how to assist someone on the autism spectrum, but laws need to change, too! That’s where a new Change.org petition comes in, collecting signatures to encourage the province to create an “Indigo Alert” — a proposed new version of an Amber Alert that could provide faster support to missing children.
Jennifer Ball, a mother of a young son who is also non-verbal and has autism, created the petition after learning that Parker did not immediately meet the requirements for an Amber Alert, which focuses on abductions. An emergency alert eventually went out after a request from the Calgary Police Service. Everyone knows those first few hours of a disappearance are the most important. Critical time having to be spent dealing with red tape is such a waste!
Similar to Amber Alerts, the notifications could be sent via TV, radio, or the highway, helping law enforcement get information out much faster, improving the chances of the child’s safe recovery. She told Calgary Herald:
“I believe an indigo alert is a specific niche of the alert system that focuses on the vulnerable population that are, a lot of them are autistic, non-verbal or can’t communicate. It puts them at a higher risk of not being found because they can’t aid in seeking help themselves, they don’t know where they live and they might not even know their name.”
Indigo was chosen as the name because that’s the color associated with autism awareness.
What might help get this new alert in place is the fact there’s already precedent to update the alert system in Canada. The Alberta government has a “silver” alert for missing seniors with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. This proposed addition seems like the natural next step! TBH, it makes so much sense. Anything to help ensure the most vulnerable seems like a no-brainer!
As of this writing, nearly 25K signatures have been added to the petition. To sign it or get more information, click HERE. Hopefully both Canadian and US governments can implement one — and quickly!
Nothing will ever heal the heartbreak the Wells’ family is suffering right now, but we hope more action will be taken to protect other vulnerable members of the public going forward.
To learn more about autism and people’s lived experiences, check out The Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
[Image via Calgary Police Service/Facebook]
