Autism 'bolting' danger; child flees Milwaukee classroom twice

MILWAUKEE - A 9-year-old Milwaukee girl escapes from her special needs classroom – not once, but twice. Now, her parents are calling on Milwaukee Public Schools to do more to protect children just like her.

When the child first ran away from school two years ago, school administrators promised to do better. When it happened again on March 8, the girl's parents called FOX6 Investigators.

Experts say what's happening is not bad behavior. It's autism.

Yesamia Torres is a happy, bright child who loves to run and play. Those aren't just platitudes. They are the exact works from Section 1A of the 3rd grade student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) at Academy of Accelerated Learning (AAL).

AAL is a public elementary school on Milwaukee's south side.

"She’s a special kid," said Yesamia's mother, Yesania Torres, from the edge of a puffy couch that blocks one of the doors in their second floor apartment. 

When Yesania (with an ‘n’) speaks about her daughter Yesamia (with an ‘m’), her eyes light up and her cheeks rise.

"She's a kid angel," Yesania said.

Yesamia is also in the bottom 1% for kids her age in reading and math. Her language skills are delayed. And, according to her IEP, sometimes she screams, cries, runs around the classroom, jumps off chairs, and slides on the floor.

"For us, she’s just like a normal kid," said her father, Samuel Santiago. "Run a little bit. Jump a little bit."

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Yesamia has autism, a lifelong condition with a broad range of intellectual and behavioral challenges.

"Baby in the home?" Yesania Torres said in broken English. "No more than three minutes, my eyes."

"You’re always keeping a close eye on her," said FOX6 Investigator Bryan Polcyn.

"Yes. Every time. Every time. Every time," Torres said.

But it's what happened at school in March 2022 that gave her parents nightmares.

"Nobody watching my baby," Torres said.

"We cried, we didn’t sleep for a couple days," Santiago added.

According to a letter the school sent to her parents, Yesamia – then 7 years old and in 1st grade – was walking down the hall with her classmates when, suddenly, she darted out of the building. She hurried down the sidewalk on Wilbur Avenue, turned the corner onto 80th Street and kept going. A private citizen spotted her running down the middle of the road without a hat or coat and took her inside her warm car.

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"The lady in the car found my baby," Torres recounted. "She put her in the car. It’s a cold day, there’s snow."

Staff members found the girl and brought her back to class. Later, the principal offered her parents an apology.

"Why only sorry?" Torres asked, tension rising in her voice. "That’s the life my baby."

The school promised that in the future, an adult would hold Yesamia's hand whenever she's in the hallway.

"They promised me a lot of stuff they’re going to do and make changes," Santiago said. "So I let it go."

Until March 12, 2024, when it happened again.

"Nobody looking my baby in the classroom," Torres said. 

Now in third grade, Yesamia was inside her special education classroom when one of the three adult staff members working that day left the room, and left the door open.

"My daughter see it and she take off," Santiago said.

By the time staff noticed Yesamia was missing and pursued her, she was already "out of sight." 

Santiago said school officials reviewed video surveillance, which showed the child walking through an area in clear view of school administration.

"She goes through the principal’s office," Santiago said. 

"So she gets out of the classroom and went through the principal's office?" Polcyn asked.

"Through the principal's office!" Santiago exclaimed.

According to a summary of the incident five days later, multiple staff members searched inside and outside the building. Eventually, the principal spotted Yesamia on the sidewalk outside the school. He ran to get her and bring her back to class. The school said a staff member was disposing of a student's diaper and left the classroom door open.

"Scaring me everyday putting my baby in the school," her mother said. 

Santiago said the first time it happened in 2022, the school focused on Yesamia's behavior, rather than staff members' responsibility.

"This time, the way that it happened," Santiago said, "I cannot let them blame it on my daughter."

"It's truly not a child trying to be bad," said Rechelle Chaffee, Executive Director of the Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin. "[It's not] a child trying to be naughty. Sometimes that’s their coping mechanism and that’s what they know to do." 

Sometimes, Chaffee said, individuals on the autism spectrum just wander away. And sometimes, they bolt. 

"Like, they’re out the door fast," Chaffee said. "And you have to move fast."

The scientific term for wandering or bolting is elopement. A study published in the journal Pediatrics in 2012 found nearly half of all children with autism elope at some point, often from a safe environment. It's so common, Chaffee said, it's predictable.

"We know it’s going to happen," Chaffee said.  

More than one in four will go missing long enough to cause concern.

"These kids are like ninja cats," said Shelley McLaughlin, director of Pathfinders for Autism, which trains police, educators and others how to plan for and respond to elopement incidents.

First and most important - calling for emergency help the moment a child goes missing.

"The last person who laid eyes on that child should be the person who calls 911," McLaughlin said.

Next is determining where to find the nearest bodies of water, from streams and rivers to retention ponds and swimming pools.

"Whether it’s the glistening of the water or the sound water makes," McLaughlin said, autistic children are naturally drawn to water, even if they don't know how to swim.

"I believe it’s something with the womb," said Sarah Fleming. 

Her son, Jeremiah Conn, eloped from a home in Stoughton, Wisconsin in 2012. She directed first responders to a nearby retention pond.

"Because he loved water," Fleming said. "I just knew he was there."

They found the 5-year-old boy, face down in the pond, just outside the Stoughton Fire Department. It was a death that shook the community.

"I never saw a police officer cry as much as I did when this happened with Jeremiah," Fleming said.

Dr. Megan Boyle said the danger of elopement makes prevention crucial. And prevention starts with understanding.

"What is the root cause that this child is eloping?" said Dr. Boyle, an expert on elopement with Upstate Caring Partners in Utica, New York.

About 50% of the time, Dr. Boyle said children with autism who elope are running to get to something they see. Or, they're running because it gets them the attention they crave.

"When I run, people chase me," Boyle said.

About 25% of the time, they're trying to get away from something.

"Maybe it’s really loud in here," Dr. Boyle said. "It’s really bright. People are trying to interact with me and I don’t love it."

It could just be that running feels good. Or some combination of all three. But knowing why it's happening plays an important role in developing a concrete plan to prevent and respond to it.

Dr. Boyle said the key to determining the root cause is to perform a so-called functional behavioral assessment. The results of the FBA can be used to develop a step-by-step plan for the adults responsible for the child's safety.

The Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin offers support to parents involved in this process.

"It's so important for parents to rally for an IEP that has actionable, plain language items in it," Chaffee said.

According to documents provided to FOX6 Investigators by Yesamia's parents, the school hasn't done such an assessment since June 2022, after the first incident. They have yet to complete a new assessment since the second elopement incident.

"It’s really important for all educators to know what to do," said Daniel Parker, a special education expert with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. 

Parker said there are a variety of possible solutions, from creating visual schedules that help a student prepare for what's coming next, to visual boundaries, such as tape on the floor, to delineate expectations of where a student should be. 

One thing that probably is not a solution, Parker said, is locking the student inside the classroom.

"There are some requirements related to locking doors," he said. 

In most circumstances, Wisconsin state law prohibits schools from locking students inside a room. However, Parker said installing door alarms might help.

"There could be either auditory or visual cues when a door opens or closes," he said, "so that staff are just made more aware of whose entering and leaving a room."

That's one of the things Yesamia's parents say they've been asking for from Academy of Accelerated Learning. 

"If they have an alarm on those doors," he said, "or a security guy walking around to help the principal, that would be a lot of good."

Instead, Santiago said the school had another solution in mind. He said the school told Yesamia's mother to put the child on an antipsychotic medication known to help reduce irritability in individuals with autism. 

"She don’t need to medicate her daughter just so they can do their job," Santiago said.

But Yesamia's parents say the concern goes beyond their child.

"Not only my baby," her mother said, "it’s too much kids in the school there who are special."

"It’s a real fear," Chaffee said.

Twice, Yesamia has bolted from school. Twice, she's been found safe.

But a mother's greatest worry is what could happen next time.

"It’s already happened twice," Santiago said. "Who guarantees that couldn't happen again?"

FOX6 Investigators first reached out to Academy of Accelerated Learning and Milwaukee Public Schools on March 29th. Among other things, we asked what they are doing to prevent elopement incidents like Yesamia's. One month later, on April 29th, a district spokesperson replied with the following statement: 

"In accordance with District policy and Federal and State law, the District does not comment on the circumstances of our individual students and their families. MPS, and individual schools, have plans in place to respond to incidents. Students who are identified to have special needs have these needs addressed and written into their Individualized Education Plan (IEP). The district does not share detailed information about emergency procedures for safety and security purposes. MPS takes all matters seriously that impact the well-being, learning, and advancement of our students."

Nicole Armendariz, Director of Communications & Marketing, Milwaukee Public Schools 

If you are not satisfied with the safety plan at your child's school, the Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin (ASSEW) said it can help:

• 414-988-1260
• ASSEW website

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) also offers IEP assistance:

• Special Education Team: 608-266-1781
• Submit a Contact Form
• Dispute Resolution Options

Other resources for parents of children with autism:

• Project funded by Wisconsin DPI: Supporting Neurodiverse Students Professional Learning System
• DPI Resources to Support Neurodiverse Students
• OAR (Organization for Autism Research) Life Journey Through Autism: A Guide to Safety
• National Autism Association Big Red Safety Toolkit (geared toward families but applicable for educators)