How to make a wandering safety plan

Wandering is common. About half of autistic children try to elope at some point after age four,^[1] and the Alzheimer’s Association says six in 10 people living with dementia will wander at least once.^[2] When it happens, adrenaline makes it hard to think. People do not invent good plans under pressure. They follow whatever plan already exists. A written plan means the right things happen in the right order, even if you are not the one at home that day.

Autism Speaks, which publishes a free safety kit with printable forms, makes the same point: a good plan covers home, school and the community, and gets updated as the person grows and their routine changes.^[3]

This is the page you hand to police, a new sitter or a search volunteer. Include:

• A current, clear photo, updated every few months
• Name, age, height, weight, hair and eye colour, and any distinguishing features
• How they communicate, and whether they respond to their name
• What frightens or overwhelms them, such as sirens, dogs, crowds or being touched
• What calms them, such as a favourite song, topic or object
• Places they are drawn to: water, trains, a park, a store, a former home or workplace
• Medical needs, allergies and medications
• Your contact numbers, and a backup contact

Our free emergency ID card and caregiver briefing card cover most of this.

For autistic children, water is the greatest danger. The National Autism Association’s advice for any missing child with autism is to search nearby water first.^[4] Adults living with dementia are also often found near water, in bushes or wooded areas.^[5]

Spend an afternoon marking on a map every pool, pond, creek, ditch and retention basin within about a mile of home, plus busy roads, railway lines and construction sites. Then mark the places your person likes to go. Our water hazard map worksheet is a good starting point. Write down the order you would search them in.

The goal is not a locked box. It is to make leaving noisy, so you know within seconds.

• Door and window chimes or alarms on every exit, including the garage
• Locks placed higher or lower than usual, or a keyed deadbolt, with a key kept nearby for emergencies
• Fencing, and a four-sided fence with a self-latching gate around any pool
• Keys, shoes and coats kept out of sight for adults with dementia, as the National Institute on Aging suggests^[6]
• A quick look at the times of day wandering tends to happen, so you can plan activities for those times

If your person is found by a stranger, the stranger needs to know who to call. Options include a medical ID bracelet or necklace, a card in a pocket or backpack, labelled clothing, a temporary contact tattoo for children who remove jewellery, and a registration program such as MedicAlert where available. A tracker can help too, and we compare the options in choosing a GPS tracker for an autistic child and AirTag vs a real GPS tracker for dementia.

• Neighbours. Introduce your person to the four or five nearest households, with a photo and your number. Our neighbourhood safety letter makes this easy.
• School or day program. A plan at home does nothing during the school day. Our school elopement safety plan template can be attached to an IEP or 504 plan.
• Other caregivers. Grandparents, sitters, respite workers and home care staff should all know the plan and where the profile is kept.
• Police. Ask your local police service whether they keep a vulnerable persons registry, and register if they do. That saves the first minutes of a search being spent explaining your person to a stranger.

Keep this to one page. For a child:

1. Check the nearest water first.
2. Call 911 and say: autistic, missing, may be drawn to water, and whether they speak.
3. One adult stays home.
4. Others take the next water, favourite places and the inside of the house.

For an adult living with dementia, start searching immediately and call 911 if they are not found quickly. The Alzheimer’s Association says within 15 minutes.^[2] Then search places they may be heading, including former homes and workplaces.

Write down who does what when two adults are home, and when only one is. Our first 10 minutes checklist is a ready-made version you can print.

Walk through the plan with everyone involved at least once. Update it every six months, and any time something changes: a new school, a move, a new caregiver, a holiday at a cottage, a new behaviour, or a change in health. After any wandering incident, even a short one, ask what would have alerted you sooner and add it.