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Congress May Revisit Autism Tracking Devices

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ASPartOfMe
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08 Nov 2017, 2:00 am

https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2017/11/07/congress-revisit-tracking-devices/24399/

Quote:
Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have reintroduced a bill known as Kevin and Avonte’s Law.

The proposal, which originated nearly four years ago, would reauthorize and expand an existing federal program aimed at helping people with Alzheimer’s disease who tend to bolt to include children with autism and other developmental disabilities

Last year, the Senate and House both approved Kevin and Avonte’s Law, but last-minute changes in the House required the bill to return to the Senate and lawmakers adjourned for the session without holding another vote.

The tweaks, which came after conservatives raised privacy concerns about the bill, led some disability advocacy groups that backed the measure to withdraw their support.

The latest version of the legislation introduced this month is largely in line with the original proposal that the Senate approved last year.

It would allocate $2 million annually for the U.S. Department of Justice to issue grants to local law enforcement and nonprofit agencies to provide electronic tracking devices to families of those at risk of wandering. In addition, funds could be used to pay for education, training and notification systems to prevent elopement and properly respond to situations in which individuals bolt.

In order to head off privacy concerns, the bill includes language specifying that tracking devices provided through the program would be “non-invasive and non-permanent” and that “the procedure to install the technology or device does not create an external or internal marker or implant a device, such as a microchip, or other trackable items.”


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fluffysaurus
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12 Nov 2017, 1:20 pm

OK, gut feeling is that there's some logic to this, but also horror. After a bit of thought I can still see the benefit of being able to find people if there is reason to think they are possibly lost or likely to be experiencing problems ect. but this sounds more like the ones we use here (UK) for criminals. Also if someone is ok to be on their own mostly then a mobile phone seems a better way to keep in tuch if there is a problem. You would need to know the person was in a difficult situation already in order to get the police to go to where the tracker said the person was, but a tracker wouldn't be able to tell you that, just where they were, and if you know it's an emergency the phone would have GPS so you could use that.

To be honest, this all sounds more like 'they're a bit weird so lets keep an eye on them'


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fluffysaurus
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12 Nov 2017, 1:38 pm

I just read the full article, does it mean that the families track the kids rather than the police?


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BTDT
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12 Nov 2017, 1:47 pm

The idea is to put something on someone who is likely to bolt or run away so that the parents could regain custody. Custody is necessary because these people are unable to function independently. They need constant care.



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12 Nov 2017, 2:44 pm

Honestly I don't think its the worst idea, sure not every child with autism or a developmental disability will have a problem of running off and getting lost...but for those that do this could be a good idea, so the child can be found when that happens. I certainly recall hearing news stories from time to time about autistic kids running away and not being found alive. So this could save their life potentially.


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cyberdad
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12 Nov 2017, 3:55 pm

My daughter has gone AWOL on many occasions in crowds but seems to have an in-built GPS to find her way back.

Visited my parent's hometown a couple of years ago and a brat of a cousin thought it would be funny to leave her on her own in the middle of town and watched to see if she would panic/cry. Luckily my daughter had mentally mapped the street signs and 20 min later walked back to my brother-in law's house.

A tracking system would be good but why not just give the kid a backpack and slip a cellphone with GPS tracking? that would be a better/simpler solution



BTDT
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12 Nov 2017, 4:27 pm

There is still the issue of training first responders on what the need to do when an AWOL autistic kid is reported.