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Heartbreaking, as the mom of a 6 yr old nonverbal autistic child this has me in tears. My child has also bolted many many times when out at a park or playground - luckily I have 2 other children, and we never allow her to get more than maybe 10 feet away from any of us. It takes ALL of us to keep her safe.

My heart breaks about this child.

As a dad with a 14 year old child with ASD, I can relate to this story. When my child was 5 or 6, we went to a week-long retreat with many other families. My non-verbal son, bolted... just running. In some way I think he believed it a game with me. I spent most of that week chasing him about. I looked like a fool who could not train my child to mind.

Nevertheless, I absolutely refused to let him get out of my sight. I got frustrated. I did not get to spend time with friends like I hoped. There was no surrender, no retreat that I could have from the challenges with my son. I could not take my eyes off him— period. Then, I decided to make my child my retreat. I captured his attention by taking him, and him only to the pond to fish. God gifted me in return with a few hours of real interaction with my boy who is normally so “far away” due to his challenges.

There were points where I could have surrendered to “oh, he'll be fine” or “he'll come back when he sees you not following” — I am very afraid that this dad did just that. He all but admits it. His boy needed him to never give in.
Instead, this dad gave up. So—— so sad.
EP