ELOPEMENT
What if a special needs person gets lost?
Elopement is a serious problem in case of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). In cases where the person is non-verbal, it becomes extremely difficult to find out his identity details by public. The elopement problem is very serious and for now we are not going into much details but we understand that it needs interventions in multiple levels like:
- Making the identification of the special needs person easier.
- Awareness in Public on ‘What to do when they spot a person with IDD ?’
- Sensitization of Police, Railway Police by Disability NGOs on: How to deal with the wandering/lost special needs person once they find her/him?
In this section, our aim is to sensitize parents and public so that they know what should be done to bring back the special needs person back home as soon as possible.
1. Making the identification of the special needs person easier.
a. Identity Cards:
- The most basic requirement is that any special needs child and adult must have, must have an identity card containing details like: Name, Names and 2 Contact nos. of parents/guardians, Address…..
- It might happen that due to sensory issues / other reasons, some persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities might not like to wear ID cards or it might happen that they might misplace their ID cards….it is thus important to keep an extra ID card in the bags they carry (school bag/tiffin bag/water bottle bag/any other bag they take with them to workplace).
b. Name + Other details Cloth Tags :
- Additionally, if the special needs person doesn’t like carrying an ID card, there can be cloth tags (similar to tailor tags) on shirts/clothes of children (suggested by one of the mothers we interviewed having two sons on Autism Spectrum Condition, both being non-verbal).
c. Using engraved KADAS :
- Names, address and contact nos. can also be engraved in KADAS (metal ornament worn around wrist). One of the stores in Amritsar (Punjab) is making these custom-made KADAS : https://www.nayi-disha.org/special-needs-autism-down-syndrome-cerebral-palsy-services/amritsar-store
2. Awareness in Public on ‘What to do when they spot a person with IDD ?’
This is a beautiful infographic on ‘How can you identify a wandering child/adult? & If you identify, then what should you do ?’ by SCAN (Special Child Assistance Network):
Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpecialChildAssistanceNetwork/