A New York Senator Wants to Use GPS to Track Autistic Kids

Just a day after the funeral for an autistic child whose remains were found in the East River earlier this month, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer proposed legislation that would allow parents and law enforcement agencies to track children with autism by outfitting them with GPS devices.

Known as "Avonte's law," the legislation comes in response to the death of 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo, who first went missing from his school in Long Island City on October 4, 2013, only to be found dead on January 16. Oquendo's disappearance attracted national attention, but Schumer emphasized that when it comes to the plight of autistic children and the families trying to protect them, his case is far from the only one.

“Avonte’s running away was not an isolated incident,” Schumer said at a press conference Sunday morning, according to the New York Times. “This is a high-tech solution to an age-old problem."

The Senator cited data from a 2012 report published in the academic journal Pediatrics that found almost 50 percent of autistic children wander away from their families or schools, which places "a substantial number at risk for bodily harm." These "elopement" incidents have led to the deaths of more than 60 autistic children since 2008. The National Autism Association, meanwhile, has found that roughly 90 percent of the resulting deaths have been drowning victims.

The idea here is that children like Oquendo wander off to get away from overstimulating social situations such as those commonly found in a middle or high school. Bodies of water are especially appealing because autistic children find them soothing in comparison, Michael Rosen, the executive vice president for strategic communications at the advocacy group Autism Speaks, said at the Sunday press conference. As with any case of a child's disappearance, time is a crucial factor in finding them. When Oquendo first went missing, his family lawyers have said that it took between 45 minutes and an hour just for the school to contact local authorities to begin the search. A tracking device could alert parents and authorities immediately when a child goes missing.

Schumer is therefore proposing a program that would build upon an existing Department of Justice program that funding to local law enforcement agencies and other groups so they can provide tracking devices for people with Alzheimer’s disease. The Senator said that he had already contacted the DOJ months ago with a plan to expand the existing program to cover autistic children as well, and found it receptive to the idea.

Money was an issue, however. Schumer said that each tracker, which can be worn as a bracelet or sewn into other articles of clothing, costs around $80 or $90 plus a monthly fee to support the software. The proposed legislation would therefore allocate $10 million in additional funding for the program so that parents could have free access to the equipment.

"The program would be completely voluntary for parents and run by local law enforcement," a press release from Shumer's office said.