Missing Autistic Child's Remains Found in New York

Avonte Oquendo, the 14 year old with autism was declared missing on Oct. 14 2013 from his school in New York.  A school video camera captured him walking out of the school in Long Island City, NY last fall.  That was the last evidence of him seen alive. Our hope that he could be found alive 

Search and Rescue Team

ended last week when the DNA of remains found on the shores of a river in Queens confirmed all of  our worst fears. Our hopes for the best became our worst nightmare. Avonte would not be coming home. In the midst of this tragedy, what is/are our take home lesson(s). We are all downcast by this tragedy and overwhelmed by a sense of failure.  This is the appropriate time to take a critical look at what could be down differently to stave this type of preventable tragedy. It is also the wrong time to blame each other for what we did wrong. That is for later.  We must own up to our mistakes and take responsiblity for what went wrong. A review of the incident report from the school indicated that Avonte was missing on Oct. 14 2013 as of 12:37 p.m. that day when he ran out of the school, according to the Department of Education.  And the assistant principal reported him missing 20 minutes later.  However, his mother was not notified until 1:35 p.m.  Moreover, school officials did not notify the N.Y.P.D. until 2 p.m.  All that time the administrators wasted, crucial time that could have made a difference in locating Avonte Oquendo. It is pertinent to emphasize that extreme fear of environment, people etc and unexpected movement such as running away from the environment are common in autism.  Avonte has a history of walking away from a supervised environment. What happened in Avonte's situation, we may never know.  

Behavioral characteristics of Autism:

• Obsessions with objects, ideas or desires.
• Ritualistic or compulsive behavior patterns (sniffing, licking, watching objects fall, flapping arms, spinning, rocking, humming, tapping, sucking, rubbing clothes).
• Fascination with rotation.
• Play is often repetitive.
• Many and varied collections.
• Unusual attachment to objects.
• Quotes movies or video games.
• Difficulty transferring skills from one area to another.
• Perfectionism in certain areas.
• Frustration is expressed in unusual ways.
• Feels the need to fix or rearrange things.
• Transitioning from one activity to another is difficult.
• Difficulty attending to some tasks.
• Gross motor skills are developmentally behind peers (riding a bike, skating, running).
• Fine motor skills are developmentally behind peers (hand writing, tying shoes, scissors).
• Inability to perceive potentially dangerous situations.
• Extreme fear (phobia) for no apparent reason.
• Verbal outbursts.
• Unexpected movements (running out into the street).
• Difficulty sensing time (Knowing how long ten minutes is or three days or a week).
• Difficulty waiting for their turn (such as in a line).
• Causes injury to self (biting, banging head).

Positive Behavioral Support for Autism (evidence-based):

• 24/7 supervision is critical to our proactive support for all Individuals with developmental disabilities.  Supervision could be implemented without violation of personal space, freedom of movement and privacy.  Know where they are and what they are doing 24/7 is a critical key to success.
• Autism and Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have over 50% co-morbidity.  It is logical to consider ADHD interventions in the support of autism.
• entry into intervention as soon as an Autism diagnosis is seriously considered rather than deferring until a definitive diagnosis is made;

• 

  Avonte Oquendo

  provision of intensive intervention, with active engagement of the child at least 25 hours per week, 12 months per year, in systematically planned, developmentally appropriate educational activities designed to address identified objectives;
• low student-to-teacher ratio to allow sufficient amounts of 1-on-1 time and small-group instruction to meet specific individualized goals;
• inclusion of a family component (including parent training as indicated);
• promotion of opportunities for interaction with typically developing peers to the extent that these opportunities are helpful in addressing specified educational goals;
• ongoing measurement and documentation of the individual child's progress toward educational objectives, resulting in adjustments in programming when indicated;
• incorporation of a high degree of structure through elements such as predictable routine, visual activity schedules, and clear physical boundaries to minimize distractions;
• implementation of strategies to apply learned skills to new environments and situations (generalization) and to maintain functional use of these skills.
  
   Our thoughts and prayers are with the Oquendo family.....