Autism Tracking Devices
Because children with autism have no fear of their surroundings or the dangers of sexual predators, they put their parents in a terrifying position every time they wander off in public. If this sounds like your situation, you know exactly what that is like, and how difficult it is trying to explain to a sales clerk that your child isn’t going to respond to a loudspeaker announcement to come to the service desk. It is so hard to accomplish your errands when you have children with autism, but would you seriously want to
imbed a tracking device in your child?
That is a recent development, one which wealthy parents have chosen to do even with their non-autistic children. Parents ease their discomfort when their children wander off by tagging them like the family dog or cat, then use a special app or a handheld device which works something like a GPS locator. Although it is very effective at finding your lost child, it brings up many questions regarding ethics and physical pain.
There are also devices that do not go under the skin but over it. These tracking devices are less invasive than the chips some parents have decided to use. The devices look very much like criminal anklets or bracelets, and your child cannot remove them without a code. The biggest concern here is that a child with autism might find the bracelets or anklets very uncomfortable or they might obsess with chewing on them. There is also the potential for the bracelets and anklets to be cut off if a child predator can get
the autistic child alone long enough to cut the device off. Still, it is a better option than asking your doctor to implant a computer-tracking chip under your child’s skin.
If you want to keep track of your child and keep him or her from wandering off in a public place, less expensive and simpler devices are available. Mini-backpacks with detachable leashes are more ideal than a tracking device because you can hold onto the leash while still allowing your child room to explore around you. These mini-backpacks also have a small pocket in them that would allow you to put personal information in the pocket along with your child’s health conditions and diagnosis if someone
kind and decent finds your child and tries to help. This low-tech way of keeping your autistic child close to you could allow you to place a high-tech tracking device in the pocket which will not interfere with your child in any way, and thus the combined solution would lead you to your child and allow others to bring your child back to you.