FRIDAY, March 23 (HealthDay News) -- The Oertel family lives in a red-brick, two-story house tucked in a tree-lined, suburban Maryland cul-de-sac. There's no fence, just a small alarm company sign on the lawn that gives no clue to the system's real purpose.
The array of bolts high on the front door, the upgraded locks on the patio and garage doors and the "burglar" alarm are meant less to keep out intruders than to prevent 15-year-old Luke Oertel from silently leaving.
Luke has a moderate form of autism, a developmental disorder that affects a child's social interactions, language and behavior. He is among those with autism who wander without a typical child's sense of fear or danger.
In June, Luke outsmarted a system of combination locks and wandered five miles away, through the early-morning rush hour, taking a pedestrian underpass beneath a heavily traveled road off the Capital Beltway.
Last year, "autism wandering" became an official diagnosis in the United States with its own medical code. Some of those afflicted enter strangers' houses. Others end up in traffic or on train tracks. Many find their way to nearby pools or ponds.
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/health/HealthDay662455_20120323_When_a_Child_With_Autism_Wanders__It_s_Crucial_to_Stay_a_Step_Ahead.html#ixzz1pxhE8wJr
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