GPS tracking and similar stuff...

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we realize now and then from articles, blogs and so on about asd population that some people use kind of GPS things to prevent wandering or find someone easier if it happens.anyone with that kind of experience?we have 17 yrs old aspie who had an wandering episode last year and we all had such a shock...fortunately everything ended well, but since then we all have deep fear of something like that.lately we saw on facebook...asperger - lighter shade of blue web site a photo of autistic boy wearing , i suppose, a GPS on his ankle.problem is, how and where buy it...is there speacial web site to order maybe?price?also we live in europe.the only thing we managed to find is a wrist watch with GPS but: 1. he definately doesn´t want to wear watch, or mobile phone...2. it´s very expensive.
any thoughts,please...

We have an Amber Alert GPS for my son (you can order it online). It's good but it's very expensive, and I'm surprised you'd need it for a teenager with Asperger's... I think there's an iPhone app that tracks the phone, that's probably a lot cheaper, and if your kid is verbal and stuff, why can't you teach him (a) not to do it and (b) how to ask for directions home. Also keep his phone with him so if he does get lost, he can call you...

he is very highly functioning...and very unpredictable.doesn´t want mobile phone.no way. the time he wandered away, he missunderstood his teacher, he was supposed to wait his dad in front of the school but he went away and was alone in the city for 7 hours.obviously he knew how to look as all the other people around him(if you know what i mean...not "sticking up").but we are affraid, anyway.thank you for your oppinion

Just have him steal a car, OnStar will keep track of him and when he gets out of prison his parole officer will give him an GPS ankle bracelet for free!

He's 17 years old, in a year he will be considered an adult. Is his level of impairment severe enough that you going to be seeking conservatorship? If not, I think you need to explain your reasons for the tracking and get his agreement. GPS tracking sounds very intrusive, and it sounds like he handled the situation very well. I tend to think of GPS tracking for wandering as being more for individuals who lack communication skills and/or the ability manage public spaces independently and for whom wandering is huge safety issue.

I understand what you want, I think, I don't know if you can find what you want at an economic price b/c stuff like that tends to have inelastic demand for special needs. Is there a reason he won't wear a watch or carry a cell phone? Is he afraid to be responsible for expensive things? I think those routes are going to be the best way to go, unfortunately. I think the GPS units for cars are too bulky to carry around, and that is all I know about that has a reasonable price.

If he won't carry a phone or wear a watch what do think the odds are he will go along with wearing an ankle bracelet? For me the stigma of wearing one(as 1401b sarcastically noted) and constant personal intrusion would be enough to say no. Their is also the potential sensory issue of having something tied around one of your legs?

I found out, from my police department, that my 53 year old Aspie husband would be considered a "special needs" person (can't remember exactly what they called it). If he took off, or went missing, the police can issue a "silver alert", and have people actively look for him.

If the police department thinks you are could be in danger, they can issue a missing persons alert. You don't have to have guardianship, at least in my state.

There are many medical diagnosis that will bump you into the silver alert catagory, not just Aspergers or some other mental illness.

Autism Speaks (gar...I know!) has a bunch of good resources for wandering.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/wandering-resources

Here's the specific info for tracking devices: http://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/defau ... mation.pdf

That must have been very scary to not know where your teenager was for 7 hours. The most socially acceptable solution here is to make him carry a smartphone. I "forced" one on my daughter this year, but now that she's adjusted (and realized that she can play Sudoku on it), she carries it everywhere. Then you should be able to put an app on it to track it, if your son needs that level of monitoring.