A Wisconsin mother experienced a “meltdown” after her 6-year-old son with autism left school unnoticed and was found wandering on a highway hours later by a stranger. Precious McIntyre’s son, Tyree, has ADHD and recently received a diagnosis of autism.
He had a 504 plan in place, according to The Latin Times, which is a legal document used in school systems that outlines accommodations and support for students with disabilities so they have equal access to educational opportunities. She thought that would prevent something like this from happening.
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He was able to walk out of school without anyone being alerted.
Though the child’s plan included specific measures to stop him from wandering outside the school unsupervised, especially in the case of experiencing “extreme moods,” per the Latin Times. Tyree was able to slip out of the school by himself on September 20. He was found by a stranger about three hours later wandering on the highway. He was one mile away from his home, and the woman helped him get there safely.
The mother withdrew her son from the school.
Following the incident, Precious says she hadn’t heard anything from Milwaukee Public Schools and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, even after filing multiple complaints against both. That led her to the decision to withdraw Tyree from the school, which has sparked even more outrage from the mother, The Latin Times reported.
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Video shows the stranger bringing him home.
Tyree was initially dropped off at school by his dad, but hours later, footage of the front porch shows a woman bringing the boy home. “Is your mommy here?” the woman is heard asking. “He felt like he was being bullied and he didn’t have any friends, so he said he just wanted to go home, and he went home,” the mother said during an interview with Fox 6.
The mother had a meltdown.
She was told that the school security guard stopped Tyree after he walked out of class but never watched to ensure the child returned to class. “I had a meltdown,” she said, according to Fox 6. “If it wasnât for the grace of god and this lady bringing my baby home and me teaching him at least the street that he lives on, he could have been in the morgue or dead.”
'Better strategies need to be put in place.'
“To know that nobody even knew that he was missing, was the worst feeling ever for me,” she said.
“Thereâs not a school district around that will say they donât have that challenge with elopement with individuals on the spectrum,” Rechelle Chaffee, executive director of Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin, said regarding another incident with a 9-year-old autistic girl who walked out of her MPS school twice, per Fox 6. “Better strategies need to be put in place to keep all of our kiddos safe.”
