My oldest (Aspergers) never wandered once he knew the boundaries and yes it was because he was a strict rule follower. My middle son (PPD-NOS) on the other hand is not as mindful of the rules and often seemed oblivious to boundaries. Once corrected for crossing a boundary he was very apologetic but it didn't stop him from doing it time after time. Now if we had a portable yellow line to constantly encompass his area he would never cross, that he seems to pay attention to. To much at times for example never try to cross a street that has solid yellow lines with him, no way, you have to find a way around them, or carry him kicking and screaming. Funny the things they see and can't ignore while other things are ignored.

is your son rule bound? if so you have someone on staff at the school take them on a boundary walk around the school yard. Explain to your son what is in and out of bounds. While school is in session he can only be in the "in bounds" areas. My son even at his most upset will NOT cross the boundary lines until the last bell of the day rings.

We have had several wanderers at our school and my middle son was also a wanderer until recently. First and foremost it's the teachers job to keep an eye on him. If there are too many children in the class it is time to look at a personal aide or additional support in the classroom. Some things we have done at our school and home is, put door chimes on every door so it is always obvious that he is leaving, when on outing he always has someones hand, when at playgrounds or outside places where holding hands wasn't productive eyes were always on him and he knew boundaries before hand (not that he always paid attention to them). Also at our school we had WATCH classrooms for when he got out. The way this works is we had a walkie talkie system that was between the wanders classroom and specific strategically placed classrooms in the school. When he wanders his classroom notifies all WATCH classrooms and we all position ourselves in the doorways whom ever sees him first brings him into our classroom and notifies his classroom to his where-abouts. I am a teacher for autism and a mom of 2 sons on the spectrum and I understand it happens sometimes to everyone but if the proper set-up is in place you will never truly lose a child and I never have.

yeah, some states have ID cards for kids. mine wandered three blocks once @ 4! for cereal @ 7-11 i'd said no to. they're brilliant sometimes, lol. he walked off with the cereal too. the clerk was like, uh... luckily police were already looking. staff should NEVER let him wander off. let them know in no uncertain terms he's at huge risk to wander. my son is in a new school and they were telling me in the new orientation they let the children walk out to the gate and back to blow off steam. my son is 13. i had to blatantly say, uh, no. he will climb it and be gone. they got the message. :)

i don't know about hers but mine couldn't care less about what you deem to be boundaries. i think some of these kids who have "crossover" diagnoses (ADHD/ODD/etc) with their Asperger's, etc., are more likely to do it cuz you said it's a no-no. lol...