Fort Bend deputies offer advice after death of autistic child

Officials and autism activists pointed to the lifesaving resources available to families in Fort Bend County after the body of non-speaking 8-year-old Ryan Akabusi was recovered from a lake near his home Sunday morning.

Ryan was reported missing on Saturday after he was last seen leaving his home in the 1900 block of Kendall Lake Drive in Richmond around 5 a.m. The search continued throughout the evening and his body was discovered by Texas Equusearch early Sunday morning.

Ryan was likely attracted to the lake because he enjoyed swimming and had been doing so for days before his disappearance, said Dalia Simmons, chief of criminal investigations for the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office.

“Water attracts children who have a mental disorder,” she said. “They are sensory sensitive. It helps them calm down, and the reflections and shadows and everything in the water attracts them.”

Simmons praised the steps his family took to ensure their son's safety.

The cameras installed by Ryan's parents helped authorities locate him, she said.

Simmons said installing cameras and alarms in the home and surrounding area can help families with autistic children keep their children safe by alerting the family when the child leaves the house.

Another resource for families, Simmons said, is Project Lifesaver, a program for people with cognitive disabilities such as autism, dementia, Alzheimer's or traumatic brain injury who may leave their homes and become lost.

The program is a partnership between the sheriff's office and Project Lifesaver International, a nonprofit organization founded in 1999 to ensure the safety of those on the run.

Fort Bend County residents can sign up for the program on behalf of their loved ones and receive a small, portable transmitter that emits a personalized frequency signal, according to the program's application brochure. First responders will be trained and equipped to use a device to locate the missing person.

“I would recommend it because it's another resource and one that's really … close to our loved ones,” she said. “It would be the first resource we should go to and try to find a place where the person can be supported.”

The Take Me Home program is another service provided by the Sheriff's Office that aims to assist individuals who have difficulty communicating due to a developmental or cognitive disability.

By completing an application, parents or guardians can provide authorities with a photograph, details of a person's appearance and their likely whereabouts if they disappear, the sheriff's office website says. The application also provides law enforcement with details of a person's triggers, stimulants and de-escalation techniques.

Sheletta Brundidge is a mother of four children, three of whom are autistic. As an autism activist, she wants to raise awareness of how interior door locks have changed her life and that of her children.

After trying several methods to keep her youngest son, Daniel, from wandering around, Brundidge installed interior locks on all the exterior doors of her home.

“We haven’t had an escape attempt in four years,” she said.

Now she plans to travel to Fort Bend County in the coming weeks to donate the locks for free.

“People who have autistic children who are wandering around; we spend every waking minute trying to protect our children,” she said. “People think, 'Why don't you just take care of your children?' Unless you have a child with special needs, you don't understand the issues we face and what we go through. It's almost impossible to be faster or smarter than them when they spend every waking hour, every moment, trying to figure out how to get away from you.”