Autism Statistics
A 2012 survey of parents found that half of all children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) eloped at least once after age 4.
Any child between the ages of 2 and 6 is always trying to find ways to outsmart you,” she says. “As soon as you think you’ve found that perfect lock for the kitchen, they always figure out how to open it. The same’s true for autistic children.” Wandering is a bigger, more consistent issue in ASD because not all autistic folks can learn from past experience — and some lack the safety awareness needed to avoid dangerous situations.
Some autistic kids lose the urge to wander with time. For others, elopement is a lifelong concern.
The 2012 survey found that 43% of parents of autistic children who wander struggled to sleep, for fear of their child bolting in the night. Another 62% said they either wouldn’t attend — or struggled to enjoy — activities that took place outside their homes. The most alarming statistic? 50% of the parents whose autistic children eloped reported receiving no help or guidance from anyone on preventing or addressing the behavior.
Dementia Statistics
Approximately 7 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's disease, with projections suggesting this number could rise to nearly 13 million by 2050.
An estimated 60% of individuals with dementia are prone to wandering, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
It’s estimated that each year, around 1% to 2% of residents of assisted living facilities might elope, which adds up to roughly 20,000 to 40,000 incidents across senior living communities in the United States.
In cases of a resident’s death at an assisted living facility, settlements often range from $250,000 to more than $1 million. Jury awards in cases of gross negligence have exceeded $5 million. But the true cost goes far beyond legal expenses.
Florida, California and Virginia, require or will require law enforcement to have specific training in preventing and responding to calls with dementia patients.
With STS, document and locate critical community members during crises or emergencies.
STS was designed as an all-systems approach to emergency response for the emergency medical services, law enforcement, emergency management, hospitals, and social services.
STS only needs a computer to document critical community members in a voluntary database and an iOS smart device app to capture their image upon location to quickly and accurately identify who they are and reunite them with their family.
Discover how STS can work for your community.
See how to upload records to create a voluntary database of critical citizens, create a trackable record in real-time when unknown individual is located, and match that record against the database to identify who they are and how to meet their needs. During our demo, you will learn about potential grant opportunities to secure federal funding to purchase STS.