Voices 4 Special Needs - East Texas

09/27/2026

32 autism experts share their knowledge with parents of autistic children

09/27/2026

An 11-week-old went in for a well-baby visit at 11 a.m.

She got 3 shots + 1 oral vaccine:
- Pediarix (DTaP + polio + hep B) — 1 poke
- Hib — 1 poke
- PCV13 — 1 poke
- RotaTeq — oral

28 antigens/strains if you count each component: diphtheria, tetanus, 3 pertussis proteins, 3 polio types, hep B, Hib, 13 pneumococcal serotypes, 5 rotavirus strains.

By evening she was blue and barely breathing.
Pronounced dead around 7:15 p.m.

Coroner: undetermined / SIDS.
Twelve years later, vaccine court: encephalopathy after those vaccines that led to her death. Family paid. Max payout for death? $250k.

One visit. Three needles. 28 antigens. Hours later, gone.
Parents deserve that timeline — not a shrug.

Case: *Sims v. Secretary of HHS*, No. 15-1526V
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cofc-1_15-vv-01526/pdf/USCOURTS-cofc-1_15-vv-01526-4.pdf

09/25/2026

08/31/2026

🚨 Hello, my name is Brina Dutton. I am reaching out as an autism advocate and mother who has experienced the heart-dropping panic when my autistic child has gone missing.

🚨 It happened with my son, Owen, at age three. Every second was critical, and luckily, I found him just in time. But I know too many families who didn’t haveve that same outcome.

🚨 Children with Autism and Impaired Cognition have a high risk of wandering (or "eloping") and do not having an awareness of putting themselves in danger. Tragically, many of these stories end in drowning, as these children/individuals often gravitate toward water.

🚨 Currently, there is no dedicated emergency alert system for these high-risk situations—an alarming gap that we are striving to fill by introducing The OWEN ALERT Act (TOAA).

🚨 The OWEN ALERT Act would establish an immediate alert system, like the AMBER Alert, specifically designed for cases where individuals with Autism or Impaired Cognition go missing—a necessity, considering 49% of children with autism attempt to elope from a safe environment, a rate nearly four times higher than their unaffected siblings/peers (Source: National Autism Association).

🚨 This critical initiative, named after my son, Owen, has the potential to save many lives and bring peace of mind to families of individuals with Autism or Impaired Cognition.

🚨 Children and adults like Owen need you to advocate for them—to ensure their safety and well-being.

🚨 This is an urgent cause that cannot wait. To protect our children and adults living with Autism and Impaired Cognition, we need the OWEN ALERT Act in placesce NOW.

🚨 Please lend your support and sign this petition. Let's influence the necessary change that will ensure the safety of all individuals. The more petition signatures we receive, the more compelling our need is to Congress and Lawmakers.

https://www.change.org/p/establish-the-owen-alert-act-for-rapid-response-in-autism-related-elopements

08/31/2026

🚨 Did you know:

🔹 Nearly 50% of children with autism will attempt to wander or elope from a safe environment at least once after age 4.

🔹 The peak age for elopement is between ages 4–7.

🔹 Approximately 33% of children who wander are unable to communicate identifying information such as their name, address, or phone number.

🔹 Nearly 65% of families report a “close call” with traffic after a child with autism elopes.

🔹 Drowning accounts for the vast majority of wandering-related fatalities among children with autism.

🔹 Children with autism are 160 times more likely to drown than their neurotypical peers, largely due to wandering behaviors and attraction to water.

As the mother of a child with autism who wandered as a toddler, I know firsthand that these aren’t just statistics. They represent real children, real families, and real emergencies.

💙 What would The Owen Alert do?

The Owen Alert would establish an immediate emergency alert system specifically for missing children with autism and developmental disabilities who are at high risk due to elopement.

Unlike current systems that often require additional criteria or delays, the Owen Alert would:

📱 Send an immediate emergency notification directly to residents’ cell phones within approximately a 50-mile radius of where the child was last seen.

🚔 Activate a coordinated response among law enforcement, emergency management personnel, and community partners.

🧩 Provide critical information about the child’s unique needs and risks associated with autism and developmental disabilities.

⏱️ Focus on the most important factor in any missing child case: time.

⚠️ How is this different from existing alerts?

The Owen Alert is not intended to replace an AMBER Alert, Silver Alert, or Endangered Missing Person Alert.

The key difference is that the Owen Alert would be:

✅ Immediate
✅ Autism-specific
✅ Sent directly to phones in the affected area
✅ Designed around the unique risks associated with autism-related elopement

💡 And this is only the beginning.

Once passed, the next legislative step would be to advocate for mandatory autism safety and response training for all emergency management personnel across the State of Texas.

When a child with autism is missing, first responders need to understand:
• Elopement behaviors
• Attraction to water
• Communication differences
• Sensory needs
• Effective search and interaction strategies

Because awareness saves time. And time saves lives.

More than 10,000 supporters have already joined this effort.

Please sign and share the petition:

💙 https://www.change.org/p/establish-the-owen-alert-act-for-rapid-response-in-autism-related-elopements

⭐️ Statistical References:
https://www.healthline.com/health/autism/elopement-in-autism

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbooksauthors/2019/02/21/wandering-off-understand-elopement-in-autistic-individuals/

https://www.cdc.gov/child-development/disability-safety/wandering.html

08/28/2026

07/03/2026

25+ speakers. 100% free. Built for educators, SLPs, OTs, and parents.