It's a Lifesaver!

It's something all parents think about and fear. Losing your child. But, if you have a child with autism who wanders, you don't just think about it, you obsess over it.

Nathan wearing his Project Lifesaver bracelet

Nathan is 10 years old and has a tendency to wander. We have talked to him and explained the dangers and that he must always be with his family.  While he understands this, if he sees or thinks about something he's interested in, he will take off. Even our younger son, Drew, is terrified of losing Nathan.

And we did lose him. Once. It was the most awful few minutes of my life.

We were in church.  My husband and I were kneeling down and praying. Nathan was sitting on the pew.  Or so we thought.  At some point he got up and walked out, we never heard a thing. After searching the street outside the church, we found him in the church office on the computer.

This incident led us to a true lifesaver. Actually, it's called Project Lifesaver. Project Lifesaver provides a radio transmitter that Nathan wears on his wrist. It looks like a watch and if he ever gets lost again, the sheriff's department can track him. We got ours through a partnership between Westchester County and Westchester Jewish Community Services (in New York).  Project Lifesaver is not the only service available to find or track a person with autism, there are others you can check out.

At first he hated wearing the transmitter,

now he forgets it's even there

We even travel with it!  We just let the people at the Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS) office know where we're going. They take it from there, contacting the local police at our destination to find out if they participate in Project Lifesaver (Walt Disney World is covered!!!). If so, they give the police the dates we will be in the area, and the radio frequency of Nathan's transmitter. We also carry documentation that we give to the TSA when going through airport security.  It explains what the bracelet is, and why he can't take it off.

As a Project Lifesaver family, we have responsibilities as well. In order to take part in the program, we must agree to test the transmitter everyday to make sure it's working.  We also keep track of what Nathan's wearing each day so we can tell the police what he is wearing if he gets lost. Every other month we take Nathan in to the WJCS office to get the transmitter battery changed.

We test the battery of transmitter daily

and keep a log of what Nathan is wearing

If someone in your family wanders either because of autism, Alzheimer's disease or for any other reason, please, get some type of tracking device. It will not only ease your mind, but it could also be a lifesaver.