Autism Wandering & Water Safety Plan

Drowning causes 91% of deaths that follow a wandering or elopement incident in children with autism, and 74% of elopement starts at home. This plan covers securing your home and yard for elopement specifically, the emergency-plan details to have ready, your first five minutes if your child goes missing, your family’s known risk windows, and a place to track swim lessons — one of the layers that travels with your child.

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🏠 Secure the Home & Yard

Alarms and locks mounted above your child’s reach and sightline — on every exterior door, not just the one nearest the water, and on any gate between the yard and a pool.
Self-closing, self-latching pool gate as its own layer, separate from the house alarm, with the latch above your child’s reach on all sides of the pool.
Alarms tested monthly, never disabled for convenience. If an alarm goes off too often to be useful, reposition or replace it — don’t switch it off.
Pool, hot tub or water feature covered or fenced from view when not in use, so it isn’t the first thing your child sees on the way outside.
Every layer treated as independent. A door alarm, a self-latching gate and active supervision are three separate layers — the plan only holds if more than one is standing on a bad day.

🪪 Build Your Wandering Emergency Plan

Recent, dated photo on file and updated every few months.
An ID method your child will keep on — a wearable medical-alert ID, a GPS tracker, or a bracelet/tattoo with a contact number, chosen and practiced in advance.
A one-page description card ready to hand a first responder (fields below): communication level, known draws, and any sensory sensitivities that could make your child run rather than approach.
Trusted neighbors briefed in advance to check their own water and property first if your child is reported missing.

🚨 The First Five Minutes

1. Check water first. Send someone straight to the pool, hot tub, pond, ditch, fountain or a neighbor’s pool while someone else does one pass through the house.
2. Call 911 immediately. Say “autism,” “nonverbal or limited speech” (if applicable) and “drawn to water” right away, so the search is directed toward water from the start.
3. Call your trusted neighbors so they check their own water and property at the same time.
4. Hand responders the description card and photo the moment they arrive.
5. Keep checking water even if it looks calm. A child in trouble rarely splashes or calls out.

If your child is found in water, call 911 if not already en route and start CPR immediately if they are not breathing normally — do not wait for symptoms to appear. Watch closely for several hours afterward even if they seem fine.

⏰ Know Your Risk Windows

Situation	Why it’s higher risk	Extra step for us
Transitions	Attention briefly shifts between activities, rooms or caregivers.
Unfamiliar places	Vacations, hotels, a new house or a relative’s home the child hasn’t mapped out yet.
Crowded events	Holidays, parties and gatherings with more people and open doors than usual.
Recent move or big change	New routines take time to settle; risk is higher while they do.
Stress or broken routine	An unusually hard day, a skipped nap, a changed schedule.
Nap time & overnight	Both are recurring windows since supervision is naturally lighter.

Age and communication level matter too. Children age 10 and under, and nonspeaking or unreliably speaking individuals of any age, are considered at extremely high or high risk regardless of the situation.

🏊 Make Swimming Part of the Plan

Enroll soon after diagnosis — researchers recommend starting around age two or three rather than waiting.
Ask about adaptive or one-on-one instruction, a play-based approach, visual schedules and small class sizes.
Ask whether cost assistance is available. Many YMCAs, municipal programs and swim schools offer scholarships or adaptive-lesson grants even when it isn’t advertised.
Loop in any existing therapist. If your child sees an occupational, speech or behavioral therapist, ask whether water safety goals can be folded into that work too.

🪪 Our Wandering & Emergency Info

Child’s name / nickname used to call them

Date of birth

Communication level (verbal / limited / nonverbal)

Known draws (water, lights, vehicles, other)

Sensory sensitivities responders should know

Past elopement history (when, where)

Nearest water hazards within ¼ mile

ID method in use (wearable / GPS / bracelet)

Trusted neighbor 1 — name & phone

Trusted neighbor 2 — name & phone

Pediatrician / therapist phone

Current swim program & instructor

Swim ability level right now

Non-emergency police line for our area

Keep it accessible. Store this page somewhere every caregiver, grandparent and babysitter can find it, and hand a copy to any new swim instructor before the first lesson.

Created by WaterWiseKids.com — Free water safety education for families

This plan is general family information, not medical, legal or emergency-response advice. In an active emergency, call 911. Wandering and drowning-risk data: National Autism Association and Autism Society. Injury-risk research: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (Guan & Li, 2017). Layers of protection and adaptive swim guidance: National Drowning Prevention Alliance and Florida International University.

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