Please give me some advice-DS keeps running away

[amistillsexy]

DS is 9, and has ASD. He has started to let himself out of the house and run off whenever he gets cross about something.
Today, we were looking for him for 25 minutes, and found him just as I was going back to the car to get my phone to call the police.

I am still reeling from the thought that something had happened to him, and panicking that this will happen again, and he will get hurt.

Maryz, that's exactly it. DS used to hide under tables in school, and loved enclosed spaces at home. He had a pop up tent, but he hates it now. Just like your DS, Maryz, he's now wanting to escape, and he calms down better when out of doors, preferably on the moors!

It's a great idea to use a neighbour's garden, though. My mate down the lane (safe route!) has a garden and a trampoline, so I'll talk to her tomorrow about him using that. He would probably do that.

Oh, Maryz .

It's so hard to know what's best to do, isn't it, and hindsight is always there to bite you on the bum! You mustn't feeel guilty. What's right for one child won't be right for another, but from other things you've posted before, I think our DSs sound quite similar, so it's lovely to hear (read!) your advice.

You are so right about teaching him to deal with his feelings. That's been our approach since he was about 5, when I realised that the more I tried to force him, the more he dug his heals in.

I usually get him to get in the car when he's mad with me, and I drive him away, up onto the hills or to a lovely woodland walk we like. He has usually calmed down before we've even arrived, and we have a lovely walk, a chat about what happened and how we can manage it better next time, and then come home happy. I hope that by the time he's a teenager, he'll be able to leave the house, go for a good walk, and sort things out for himself before returning. Meanwhile, I do need to make sure that he can't run out on his own. I wouldn't try to keep him inside in that state, though, but it would be nice to have time to have a wee and grab a cardi before leaving the house!

I'm happy to be able to say that since that incident, he's been right as rain, and very well regulated. Maybe we're over the glitch!