Definition
Elopement behavior, sometimes termed “wandering,” is defined as the leaving of a supervised, safe space by a dependent person, such as a person with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It refers to incidents lasting longer than a brief period of running away, which is developmentally normal in toddlers but is rare in the typically developing population, particularly in those over 5 years of age (Anderson et al. 2012).
Historical Background
Historically, elopement was grouped with other “challenging behaviors” commonly encountered among individuals with ASD and/or Intellectual Disability (ID), such as aggressive and disruptive behavior, and received little specific attention (Dekker et al. 2002; Doehring et al. 2014; Matson and Nebel-Schwalm 2007; Matson and Rivet 2008; Murphy et al. 2005). The majority of research specifically focused on elopement behavior has been conducted on populations of individuals with dementia rather than ASD, potentially limiting applicability of...
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References and Reading
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Weblinks
Autism Society Safe and Sound Initiative. https://www.autism-society.org/living-with-autism/how-the-autism-society-can-help/safe-and-sound/
Autism Speaks Safety Products. https://www.autismspeaks.org/safety-products-and-services
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s. Autism wandering tips. http://www.missingkids.com/content/dam/missingkids/pdfs/Autism%20Wandering%20Tips_2017.pdf
The Autism Wandering Awareness Alerts Response and Education (AWAARE) Collaboration. http://awaare.nationalautismassociation.org/
The National Autism Association’s. Big red safety toolkit. http://nationalautismassociation.org/docs/BigRedSafetyToolkit.pdf
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Andersen, A.M., Lipkin, P.H., Law, J.K. (2020). Elopement. In: Volkmar, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102467-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102467-1
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