Something heart-stopping just happened and I just need to get it out.
Beforehand, people should note that Autistic children are NOTORIOUS wanderers. My son is not an exception. He will set his mind on going somewhere and, if he has more than 2 seconds supervisor-free, off he goes with no regard to his surroundings. Now, he hasn't wandered away in probably a year. However, today, he felt the urge.
I just got home, so I didn't shut the front door. I left the big door open and only shut the screen door and forgot to lock it and set the door alarm. Evelio was watching Thomas the Train and I took him to potty. Then, I had to go so I sent him back to the living room where I assumed he would resume his movie. I was in the bathroom for probably 30 seconds. My sister was in the kitchen preparing a bottle for her brand new 6 day old baby boy. I came out of the bathroom and didn't see Evelio in the living room. I asked her where he was. She said that he had come out of the bathroom, but that she didn't hear the screen door open. We spent probably 10 seconds checking the other rooms in the house. I then ran outside and looked down the street.
My heart froze in my chest as I saw his bright yellow t-shirt in the middle of a busy street in front of the school that is a block and a half from our house. He was stopped in the middle of the street flapping and jumping. I'm betting that seeing the cars' wheels spinning caused him to "stim-out". Anyhow, I took off running, bare-footed. The cars were slamming on their brakes in order to avoid running him over. Luckily, it was right between 4:00 and 4:30 pm, so the school speed zone lights were flashing so cars were going very slowly. It was also extremely lucky that he was wearing a very bright yellow tshirt that made him easy to see.
He made it across the street and I lost sight of him. At this point, I was going into hysterics. I was running as fast as I could possibly go and I couldn't see how I could catch him. Some kids were walking down the street and asked me if I was looking for "the kid in the yellow shirt". I frantically said yes. They said "He almost got hit by a car!" I nodded to indicate that I knew that, while continuing to run. They then told me that he ran toward the back of the school. I ran around the corner and I saw him. Across two parking lots and down a flight of cement stairs, and across the playground, where was he?
At the swing set, climbing on a swing. I finally got to him. I was shaking so bad, I felt lightheaded and felt as if I was going to pass out. I threw my arms around him and just held on to him. He kept pushing me back and trying to put my hand on the swing chain to communicate that he wanted me to swing him. I started walking him back towards my house, when a special education teacher, who just so happens to work at Evelio's school across town, was pulling out of the parking lot and recognized him. I explained what had happened and why I was so shaken up and in tears, and thankfully, she gave us a ride home.
As I sit here, I am still shaken up. I can only just be so thankful for school speed zones and the fact that he was wearing a bright yellow shirt. What's crazy is, I can't understand how Evelio remembered that there were swings at the school down the street. When he has "escaped" the house before, he has always run the opposite way from the busy street. He has only been to the swing set at the school one time in his life. That was in March of 2011. That's almost 2 years ago. I have no idea what triggered that memory. All I do know is that he knew exactly where he was going and made a B-line for it.
I can just be thankful that he is okay and no one hit him.
