MUSC Developmental Pediatrics is seeking volunteers for a research study involving education and safety kits at no-cost for families of children with autism who exhibit elopement behavior (bolting, wandering, taking off, fleeing, etc.)
What is this study? Children with autism are at increased risk for elopement, which is a potentially dangerous behavior such as dashing or wandering away from safe settings. This study will provide elopement prevention kits for eligible children with autism spectrum disorder at no-cost to families. Caregivers will be asked to rate how useful individual kit items are at reducing elopement, and to provide feedback about how ESCAPE kits affect their stress levels and ability to engage meaningfully in community settings. This information will be used to guide development of a larger elopement prevention program and families will be compensated for completing these ratings.
Who can participate? Families who have a child with diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder between the ages of 12 and 17 years old.
What does the study entail? Eligible families will receive an ESCAPE kit at no-cost to them once they have completed the screening survey, consented to participate, and provided their mailing address. Families will be sent a follow-up survey 3 months after receiving their kit and will be compensated $20 for completing this survey.
Families can find out if they are eligible by visiting https://redcap.link/teenelopekit and completing the survey.
