Too close for comfort

Yesterday in the Kansas City area, a 5 year old little boy with autism wandered away from his grandparents home when no one was paying attention.  His body was found a few hours later in a neighbor's pond.  And I feel sick.  I dreamed all night about that little boy and my own little five year old with autism.

We are spending this week with my parents in Louisiana, and twice this week (so far), Eli has wandered away from us.  One time he apparently tried to walk into the neighbor's house, but their door was locked.  He kept telling "I went to that house and the door was locked."  So we beefed up our security.  And just yesterday, we had him locked in on the screened in patio.  The lock is up too high for him to reach, and he was playing.  I was sitting just inside with my mom and sister-in-law so I could peek out occasionally and see him.  After a bit, something caught my eye beyond the porch.  Ryan saw it at the same time I did and asked who was outside.  We jumped up and ran to the patio.  Our little Houdini had pulled a big rocking chair over to the door and climbed up to undo the lock.  Thankfully, he was safely playing in the sandbox.  But in about 5 seconds all of the what-ifs passed through my mind.

As a parent of an autistic child, I can't let my guard down for one second.  This poor family that lost their sweet little boy yesterday probably had all the safeguards in place that we do.  However, one thing was different yesterday.  There was an AC repairman at their home and he left the front door open/unlocked.  It only took a few seconds.  Kids with autism are quiet.  Sneaky---without intending to be.  They don't answer when their names are called, many times.

Ryan and I have both been struggling with anxiety since last night.  Ryan told me that this morning he has felt the Lord reminding him that Eli belongs to the his Creator.  God holds Eli in the palm of his hand.  No amount of our worrying can add length or purpose to his days.  So we trust.

We have also started the process to get Eli a service dog.  We have found a breeder that breeds dogs specifically for children with autism.  If all goes well, we will be getting our golden doodle in December.  Then we will have to find a trainer to help train the dog for the purpose of becoming a service dog.  We need/want the dog to be trained to track Eli should he wander away as well as to alert us if he does.  Hopefully the dog will also be trained in calming Eli when he is in situations that cause him lots of anxiety.  We are really hopeful that this will be a good thing for our sweet boy.

In the coming months, I may start posting about fundraisers that we will need to do to raise money for the training of the dog.  We are thinking it may cost a few thousand dollars to have our future dog trained and certified as a service dog.

In the meantime, feel free to join us in praying for the safety of not just Eli, but all of the precious children who have autism and are prone to wandering away from safe places.