Tuesday, May 13

Project Lifesaver

Today Spencer was fitted with a Project Lifesaver transmitter bracelet. This bracelet can help aid in finding a person who could easily be lost or disorientated. It is mainly, at this time, being used for autistic children and Alzheimer's patients. The bracelet has a transmitter that links up with the Sheriff's Department's special remotes and is used to track a lost person. Spencer is very unpredictable when it comes to his understanding of boundaries and has no sense of his own safety when outside. When with me, he will usually wait at a doorway and hold out his hand for me to take before going any further. I have insisted he do this since the moment he first walked out of the house on his own two feet. He does not do this however at school or daycare or if you leave a doorway unattended. He will take off on his own happily and quickly. This is a parent's worst nightmare and after much thought, I decided this bracelet needed to be a part of Spencer's life. It is bulky and seems to shout, "Hey, look, my kid is different!" but that certainly outweighs the fact that Spencer's life could be at risk in the future.


A deputy sheriff came to the house to explain the transmitter to us and put it on Spencer. She is in charge of this for our county and they could not have picked a better person. A new mother herself, she is devoted and has many ideas that will only make this program more successful. She had a wonderful idea of taking pictures of herself with Spencer and of her vehicle she would be driving if looking for Spencer so he might consider her someone he knows and come to her if called. What a wonderful idea! I will be printing these out and putting them on the refrigerator so Spencer becomes familiar with them. He will also be seeing her every 30 days for battery replacement.


Here we are trying to keep Spencer still so Sara can put on the bracelet. She looks friendly but can kick some major butt with all that hardware on her belt. I listened to everything she said so she didn't need to demonstrate her skills! LOL!



As soon as she finishing putting the bracelet on, Spencer turned to me and with whines and cries, requested I take this strange object off his leg.




Here is a close-up of the bracelet. I am putting his sock over it to keep it from moving and reminding Spencer it is there. So far, so good.



Spencer and Sara. Spencer warmed to her right away. I did too in fact. John knows her from work, so I think she was comfortable with us also.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stinky Pete on house arrest. What a turd, and what a relief to know there is "eye's" on him in time of need. A wonderful service Wood County provides.

Anonymous said...

A few days back, a little girl disappeared in our community. She was found clinging to a fence post frightened and very cold later that night. Josh and I arrived just as she was found. I wish that our county offered such a device. The little girls is very sweet but nonverbal and inclined to wander -- causing her parents no end of worries.

I think you are quite a good parent for signing your child up for Project Lifesaver.

Blessings!

Lacy

Sheri said...

I can't imagine this girl's poor parents or her for that matter going through something like this. This is fairly new and my son is the first person to have it placed in our town, seventh for the county. It's a tough decision but a good one, I think. Thank you for the compliment!

Tanya said...

I think it's such a wonderful idea. I'm so glad to know he has this! As he gets older, who knows what he'd want to "check out" and before you know it, he could be gone. This is awesome!

Brandy said...

What a wonderful idea! I think I'm going to check into that here in our state/county and see if they offer it.

Love the pic of him with the officer! :)

Sheri said...

Tanya, you are so right about him just checking things out. He has no concept of staying in a safe area when he is outside. He is so excited when we go outside and is prone to wandering because he is "talking" to his hands and not paying attention.

Brandy, I was so torn on if I should do this or not. It is big and bulky and the poor little guy looks like he is on house arrest. Fortunately, he acts like he isn't wearing it and when I see how distracted he is outside, I am glad I did. It is so hard to know if you made the right decision. I already see people look at us funny. Such is life. I usually make a dumb face back because I am so mature! If you have any questions, please ask.