Unfortunately this is a question that many parents of an autistic child will probably have to ask more than once particularly if their autistic child is a wanderer.

The Kennedy Drieger Interactive Autism Network has recently released a study on the wanderer. The study found that 50 % of the children involved in the study were wanderers and that this activity began to recede by the age of four.

Follow up:

The Network also listed the causes of the wandering as interpreted by the parents. They were:

1. The child enjoyed exploring...
2. The child always went to his/her favorite place...
3. The child wanders to escape demands/anxieties...
4. The child was trying to resolve a special topic...
5. The child was attempting to escape discomfort...

The study showed that the major concern was for the child that wandered at night or the child that tended to wander during public functions.

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has formulated a new diagnostic code for autistic wandering. This code will be approved in October, 2011.

All parents of an autistic child should be aware of this new code and insert input into it. The code is not written for only the autistic individual but also for those in the Alzheimer's community. The code is being written to provide help for the caregivers of the autistic person, and to provide protection to the autistic person.

CDC has created a somewhat controversial new medical code which can be added to certain diagnoses of Alzheimer's, autism, and dementia.

The ICD-9- CM code for wandering, effective October 1, 2011, is designed to promote better data collection for and understanding of wandering and to prompt important discussions about safety among healthcare providers, caregivers, and the person with a disability to the fullest extent possible.

The code further states that: Wandering places children and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD’s) or other disorders in harmful and potentially life-threatening situations---making this an important safety issue for individuals affected and their families and caregivers.

This code is intended to capture information about individuals with any condition classified in the ICD, who wander. Wandering was deleted as a sub code under Alzheimer's and dementia code and added as a condition to be noted in association with disorders classified elsewhere (V40.31)

This new diagnostic code should be read by parents of the autistic child so awareness of processes involving their child are known and understood.