Navigating Autism and Wandering

Although he was diagnosed with autism at a very young age, 20-year old Matthew didn’t have a wandering incident until he became a teenager. Matthew first wandered from his high school campus. A few months later, he left the house in the middle of the night. Matthew’s mother Bonnie decided it was time to enroll him in MedicAlert.

These wandering incidents have become all-too-familiar for Bonnie. He has wandered  multiple times during the past three years. But it wasn’t until July 30, 2016 that the danger became very real. 

“We have relied on MedicAlert many times to help bring Matthew home safely after he’s wandered,” she explained. “But when he left during the night last summer, he was gone for a much longer period of time. Matthew ended up further away from home than ever before. If not for MedicAlert, I don’t know what would have happened to my son.”

According to Bonnie, Matthew typically wanders anytime they are on a break from school and not in structured routine. One night over the summer, Bonnie awoke around 4am, and Matthew was not in his bed. Upon realizing Matthew had wandered once again, her first call was to local law enforcement and then MedicAlert.

When the MedicAlert Emergency Response Specialist answered, Bonnie was understandably alarmed. MedicAlert confirmed what Matthew was last wearing and when he was last seen to ensure the exact details. Then, the information was relayed to the Los Angeles County law enforcement agency.