National Autism Association Applauds Sevenly Campaign To Help Keep Children With Autism Safe
Boston, MA – The National Autism Association (NAA) today announced its receipt of over $43,000 from Sevenly.org following its “Choose Love” campaign benefitting at-risk children with autism. The funds will allow NAA to distribute its “Big Red Safety Box” to autism families across the U.S. in an effort to combat the rise in wandering-related injuries and deaths in the autism community.
“We are overjoyed that these tools and resources will once again be available to those caring for individuals at risk of wandering away from safe environments,” said NAA Director of Development Aimee Allenback.
According to a 2011 study by the Interactive Autism Network (IAN) through the Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI), 49% of children with an ASD wander/elope from safe supervision. This is at a rate nearly four times higher than their unaffected siblings, indicating that this is not an issue of bad parenting. From 2009 to 2011, accidental drowning accounted for 91% of total U.S. deaths reported in children with an ASD ages 14 and younger subsequent to wandering/elopement.A 2008 study from Denmark found that the mortality rate within the autism population is twice as high as in the general population.
“People with wandering tendencies can be gone in the blink of an eye despite even the most diligent supervision,” said Allenback. “The generosity of Sevenly – and everyone who participated – will work to prevent tragic outcomes that have devastated so many families in our community.”
“Sevenly was honored to support the amazing mission of NAA for this campaign,” said Justin Palmer, Online Awareness Director. “In our 1 year history, it was our most successful campaign yet! We were very excited to partner with NAA in raising awareness and increasing safety for families with Autism.”
The opening of the Big Red Safety Box application period will be announced by NAA in the coming weeks. In the meantime, parents are encouraged to join NAA’s wandering prevention group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AutismWandering.
Information, tips and resources on wandering prevention can be found at http://www.awaare.org or at http://autismsafety.org.
For more information about Sevenly, visit http://sevenly.org.
For more information about NAA, visit http://nationalautism.org.
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Contacts:
Wendy Fournier, NAA (Portsmouth, RI) 401.835.5828
Aimee Allenback, NAA (Myrtle Beach, SC) 910.545.2211
