COVINGTON, Ky. — Nearly two years after a 9-year-old boy with autism wandered off from a group home and drowned in the Ohio River, there's an effort in the Kentucky legislature to keep his memory alive.
House Bill 682, otherwise known as IAN's Law, lays out the framework for a new statewide emergency alert system. Similar to an Amber Alert, the IAN Alert would instead be tailored specifically to children with autism or other disabilities who go missing.
Republican Rep. Candy Massaroni introduced the bill last week after working with Rhonda O'Brien, the grandmother of the boy for whom the act is named.
"She was very persistent. She brought in a list of signatures — I think there was well over five, 600 signatures — people requesting that we do legislation," Massaroni said. "So the grandmother has been a champion and my heart breaks for her but I'm appreciative that she's bringing awareness to the situation."
On June 6, 2022, the body of O'Brien's grandson Ian Sousis was found floating in the Ohio River. The boy had been reported missing from the Northern Kentucky Children's Home in Covington hours earlier. Police said video from the home showed Sousis running away and then a staff member running after him a few seconds later. Investigators believe the child left the property and entered the woods.
Sousis had a history of wandering off, a tendency commonly seen in kids with autism. Many also are attracted to water, just like Sousis was.
When children with autism wander off from caregivers or secure locations, it's called elopement. Studies show children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder are at a heightened risk of drowning — almost 160 times more than neurotypical children. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, accidental drowning accounted for 91% of U.S. deaths reported in children with ASD ages 14 and younger following their elopement.
Because of that gravitation towards water, Massaroni said O'Brien wanted a way to keep other children who wander off and are considered to be in danger safe. The IAN Alert would aim to do just that.
"I think it would put into place a system that would alert authorities and communities in the local area to kind of be sensitive to a child's unique sensory problems or any sensory issues that you may have," Massaroni said. "And the community — they can be on alert you know. I think Ian's grandmother was telling me that her grandson was climbing a fence and someone saw him but they just thought it was just a kid out playing, so if people are aware that there is a missing child that has some developmental issues then they can react quicker and get kids home safer."
For some advocacy groups, like Autism Society of the Bluegrass, it's a step in the right direction. Melanie Tyner-Wilson said she knows the fear of an autistic child eloping first-hand.
"(The bill) is so needed," she said. "My son is 30, but he is nonverbal and has other kinds of issues in addition to his autism. Our son, in his mind he decided to go somewhere and he wouldn't automatically tell us where it was, he would just leave the house. He was curious about something and he just decided to leave."
IAN's Law is still in committee and has a long way to go in the state house, but Massaroni said she believes it will garner bipartisan support.
Tyner-Wilson shares that hope and has a few suggestions for families with autistic children in the meantime.
"From a safety, prevention perspective having a bill like this in place would just be really powerful," Tyner-Wilson said. "What we started encouraging families to do is go and meet your fire department, meet the police so that those individuals get to meet those emergency responders, so you're proactively getting them connected."
