Eloping and Autism: How to get a free safety kit for your ASD kid (or share with a family you love)

Wandering, elopement, running-off.... whatever you want to call it, it's scary.  For autism families, a child wandering away from the parent is not only scary, it's deadly.  It's not that we don't pay attention to our kids, we do... it's just that they are CONSTANTLY wandering and lack the capacity to understand fear/danger.  Kids with autism wander for many reasons (get away from sounds, find a sensory stimulus (water), or just plain curiosity).  The problem is, many of these kids are either non-verbal or non-responsive to strangers.  When I see an alert in the news regarding a missing ASD kiddo, I actually have a hard time watching it.... I can just visualize my sweet Bella in the situation and frankly the thought of her missing for even a second, is too much to bare:(

Did you know that wandering (or "elopement) is now the LEADING CAUSE of death for children on the autism spectrum.  With recent news of children, much like our sweet Bella, wandering and being found dead in surrounding bodies of water I was prompted to "do something".  My sweet mom found an emergency tool kit called the Big Red Safety Box that is offered by the National Autism Association.  This tool kit (which is outlined below) can be ordered  by ASD families (free of charge) and used in case of elopement.  Please read below and order one, autism moms and dads!  OR If you know a family who has a child/teen/adult with ASD, pass this along.  I can't resist in sharing something that could save a life!

Here's how to apply:Apply Here (only direct family can apply)

* I copied all of this information from the National Autism Association website

NAA’s Big Red Safety Box includes the following resources:

1) Our Get REDy booklet containing the following educational materials and tools:

•  A caregiver checklist
•  A Family Wandering Emergency Plan
•  A first-responder profile form
•  A wandering-prevention brochure
•  A sample IEP Letter

2) Two (2) Door/Window Alarms with batteries

3) One (1) RoadID Personalized, Engraved Shoe ID Tag*

4) Five (5) Laminated Adhesive Stop Sign Visual Prompts for doors and windows

5) Two (2) Safety Alert Window Clings for car or home windows

6) One (1) Red Safety Alert Wristband

*You will receive instructions to submit a custom personalization order online at roadid.com. Your tag will be quickly engraved with your emergency information and mailed to you at no charge.

Regardless of any tools caregivers may have in place, if a loved one’s medical condition interferes with their ability to recognize danger or stay safe, it is critical that caregivers maintain close supervision and security in all settings. For more information and ways to prevent wandering-related incidents, please visit http://awaare.org  

Those diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, and who are at risk of wandering/bolting from a safe environment, qualify to receive a Big Red Safety Box while supplies allow. Limit One (1) box per family. Recipients must agree to terms and conditions. Please allow two to three weeks for your Big Red Safety Box request to be processed.

NAA’s Big Red Safety Boxes are packaged and shipped with care by a company employing adults with autism and other developmental disabilities.  (LOVE THIS)

I (Annie) am planning on getting local law enforcement involved in my hometown.  I'm sure they have training programs but, with the amount of autism/PDD families here in my city, you can never be too safe!  NAA offers a kit for law enforcement if you want to share it with them in your area: LAW ENFORCEMENT KIT

If you do not have a child with autism but wish to donate to this amazing cause (to help NAA fund the kits for families like ours) visit: This link

What is the difference?

Friends,

I try not to get too political on this blog, but some issues go beyond politics.  I may offend some of you, and I secretly hope I do (sweet smile/timid wink).  First, I want you to take 20 minutes of your time (which I know is precious) and watch this video.  I am not pushing my agenda on you because, after all, you are choosing to read/watch what I posted.... and this is totally my opinion.  I just wish for you to view it with an open heart.  It might just break it.

As you know, I am pregnant.  Seeing the images of these innocent victims hurts me.  It makes me want to speak comfort to the unborn (but divinely created) child inside of my womb.  I refuse to call my 13 week old child, a fetus.  It's offensive to me.  

Here's what I believe about what happens inside a pregnant woman's womb (at any gestation).  

Psalm 139:13-16

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.

God had our ALL of our days ordained for us BEFORE one of them came to be.  Even the babies conceived out of passion, hate, envy, confusion, drunkenness....the list goes on, He knew.  Every moment being planned out by the Creator, God.

If you watched the video, you would have seen images from Dr. Gosnell's late term abortion procedures.  Babies born viable in life, breathing, cooing and then snip.... scissors cut the spinal cord behind the neck as they squirm in pain until they bleed out, brain dead. What!? Does that make you cringe inside?  Why? Well, because there is something inherently wrong with ending such an innocent LIFE.  Little babies fully dependent on us from the moment of conception taken from the earth as quickly as they came.  I cannot bare this thought.

Ok so here's the dilemma friends....why does this story shock us when early term abortions equate to the same ending? It just happens to be on the inside.... they still feel it:(

Praise God for his mercy and miraculous forgiveness.  Many women have walked through the doors of a clinic (probably one more sanitary and professional than this one) and been educated on the simple procedure to remove the "fetus" within them.  What they are not informed about is the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual pain that follows this decision (as you saw from the moms in the video).  I am thankful today for Pregnancy Resource Centers across the globe (like the one my mom runs Alpha Women's Center) that offer these same mothers other options: life, adoption, hope.... and for women who have already walked the path of abortion: Christ's forgiveness.  Let me be clear on this, nothing can seperate us from the love of God, not even abortion.  He offers a new life with a hope that washes away our past, Jesus.

Thanks for listening:) You may not agree with my viewpoint, but it's something to consider.  Why is this doctor getting charged with murder because the infants are killed OUTSIDE the woman's body, at a later gestation?  Why do we charge murderers who kill pregnant women with two counts of murder?

Oh sadness.

While some pregnancy center's offer hope... here's what Planned Parenthood supports:

Makes me sad.

THE BIGGEST SECRET EVER!!

Friends!

We are back! We had to take the blog down to fix some privacy issues but now... put on your big boy/girl panties because we are about to get real ya'll.  Ewe, I just said "ya'll"... blame it on my years in the south.

Want to hear a secret?  You do?  Ok, WE ARE PREGNANT!

I'm bad at keeping secrets you guys, and this one has been eating me alive...no really... I have actually told perfect strangers just to get it off my chest.  Me, "Hey guy at the In N Out window, you wanna know something?"...... Ok, I had to tell him because I had just finished vomiting in their parking lot.  I felt he needed to know that "it was not weird" that I just puked my brains out, then ordered a burger and fries.  Either way, secret is out and I feel great about it!

How it happened: Um, I hope you understand this process?  If you truly have questions about procreation, you may want to call your mom (or a cool aunt if you are embarrassed).

Why did you guys wait so long, you old farts? Well, it's complicated.  Most of our close family and friends know the inner battles Josh and I had with having more kids.  When we first got married we had  created a blue-print for God to follow that went something like this...

Nice couple, 2.5 kids, white picket fence, our children would grow up to be successfully famous, they would produce grandchildren, love the Lord, and Josh and I would die together skipping through a meadow (that is a weird way to die, maybe a rogue herd of cows)?  Sounds like a plan?

God had his own plans: Well, with Bella's early birth at 33 weeks that all changed.  From day one I realized that my blueprints and God's did not match at all!  Instead of mother/daughter bonding, I loved on her through her incubator, I didn't get to breast feed, she didn't come home with me from the hospital, she had fluid on her brain (CT scan city), she didn't meet ANY of her milestones, she screamed all day long, banged her head until bleeding, didn't listen, never had a doctors visit where something went right.... then, AUTISM.  The first two years were a blur honestly.  I watched all my girlfriends pop out multiple children that all seemed to come out perfect...

How God's plans made me feel: At first, I cried out to God.  How could your plans be so vastly different than mine?  Why us?  This life is hard.  Then a change in my heart took place.  I came to know my Father in a real way through my sweet daughter.  Though she was not perfect (and neither was I), He was!  So, I could experience perfection through Jesus.  I wanted Him to be glorified through our Bella.  He knit her in my womb just the way she was meant to be and I thanked Him for it every day.  I stopped being sad, and started to feel proud.  So we waited to hear God's voice, we wanted more kids but didn't feel we could give Bella our "all" while also having another child.  It seems selfish but, Bella needed us too much to have our attentions divided.  That brings us to today.  After much prayer Josh and I felt it was time.  Bella is ready, we are ready, God was ready.

So we did it:) Oh wow, I didn't just type that.  Ok, on that note.... WE ARE HAVING A BABY AHHHHHHHH!

Much love,

The Earls (Josh, Annie, and big sister Bella-girl)