TYLEr (KYTX) - The death of 3-year-old autistic boy Evan Reed is hitting family and friends hard.
The Smith County Game Warden says Evan got out of his grandparent's sliding glass door Friday and ended up in Lake Palestine.
People in the local autism community talked to CBS 19 about typical behaviors that could lead to tragedy.
Autism experts and parents with autistic children say people don't realize how difficult it is raising autistic children. Their behavioral patterns are extremely different - and many times, it gets them into trouble.
The death of Evan Reed hits home with Lacey Owens. Her 5-year old son Corbin is autistic.
"In fact I live out at Lake Palestine myself and we live one street by the lake and my son's gotten out a couple times himself. I was lucky my father in law was next door, and was able to catch him - otherwise, it could have been my son!" Owens says.
We sat down and talked to Corbin, who told us he usually flees when he's scared. Autism therapist Amy Hayes says that tendency to run off is very typical.
"There are several things that may cause a child to bolt or leave or be a runner or however you want to term this behavior," she says.
Like Evan and many other autistic children, Corbin has an obsession with mechanical items.
"The baby locks and the plug things, he can take all that stuff apart. He did that when he was 2 1/2 years old," Owens says.
Many parents with autistic children need to find ways to keep their kids close to them, if they are those kids that tend to run off. Some parents use small backpacks with a harness and a handle attached so they can make sure their kids don't run away.
Owens says people don't always understand why she uses precautionary items like that.
"People, when he's in harnesses like this, they just look at me with dirty looks but they don't understand that he's gone within a second, and you can't catch him!" she says.
She hopes the community will try to better relate to where she and families like hers are coming from.
Some families with autistic children put signals or chimes on their doors so they know when they are opened. Others put identification bracelets on their children just in case they get out of sight.
Assist Autism and Ellis Rehab, which both provided autism therapy and services to children, closed this year. Parent Services Center in Tyler has expanded to help more autistic children, like partnering with Behavioral Innovations in Tyler.
