title: Reported Wandering Behavior among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or Intellectual Disability.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterize wandering, or elopement, among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questions on wandering in the previous year were asked of parents of children with ASD with and without intellectual disability and children with intellectual disability without ASD as part of the 2011 Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services. The Pathways study sample was drawn from the much larger National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs conducted in 2009-2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For children with special healthcare needs diagnosed with either ASD, intellectual disability, or both, wandering or becoming lost during the previous year was reported for more than 1 in 4 children. Wandering was highest among children with ASD with intellectual disability (37.7%) followed by children with ASD without intellectual disability (32.7%), and then children with intellectual disability without ASD (23.7%), though the differences between these groups were not statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study affirms that wandering among children with ASD, regardless of intellectual disability status, is relatively common. However, wandering or becoming lost in the past year was also reported for many children with intellectual disability, indicating the need to broaden our understanding of this safety issue to other developmental disabilities.
authors.affiliation: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA. Electronic address: cerice@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Catherine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.affiliation: National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, MD.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zablotsky
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, School of Public Health, Seattle, WA.
authors.forename: Rosa M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Avila
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
authors.forename: Lisa J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Colpe
authors.affiliation: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Schieve
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
authors.forename: Beverly
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pringle
authors.affiliation: National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, MD.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Blumberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055816:Wandering Behavior / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: autism spectrum disorder; children with special healthcare needs; developmental disabilities; elopement; wandering