8/7/2019 WANDERING - ICD-9 Sample letter - SUPPORT NEEDED
1/2
ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance CommitteeDonna Pickett,
MPH, RHIA - Co-ChairEmail: [email protected]
Dear Ms. Pickett,
Our organization represents _______ families in the autism
community.
We are writing to express our support of a new diagnostic code
for wandering asrecently requested by the Centers for Disease
Control.
There is a significant need for wandering to be recognized as a
serious medical issuefor individuals with autism, as it currently
is with Dementia patients.
We believe a diagnostic code will help to protect individuals
who have adocumented history of wandering that puts them at higher
risk for injury, traumaand death.
It is vitally important that physicians become aware that
children with autism often
exhibit wandering tendencies placing them at risk of serious
harm. Doctors andcaregivers must work together to ensure that
prevention strategies are madeavailable and put into place to
protect these children whose understanding or senseof potential
danger is significantly impaired.
A diagnostic code will allow for the collection of data on the
incidence of wandering.It will create opportunities for the
development of sound practices for preventionand the necessary
education of doctors, caregivers, school administrators and
staff,first responders/search personnel, and most importantly,
families with loved ones atrisk.
Non-verbal children with autism present a unique set of
challenges to search andrescue personnel. Many are unable to
respond to their name when called. It is ourhope that a diagnostic
code will lead to increased awareness and the developmentof
emergency search and rescue response protocols, leading to more
successfuloutcomes for those who wander and become lost. In
addition, law enforcementpersonnel must be educated on how to
recognize an individual with a developmentaldisability who may have
wandered and is unable to respond to questions or to
policedirectives, which can often be wrongly interpreted as
resistance.
Sadly, restraint and seclusion techniques are being used in
schools and homesacross the country to prevent wandering incidents
because caregivers know of no
other way to keep their loved ones safe from harm. For example,
school personnelfrequently restrain children who are attempting to
elope from a classroom setting.This is a dangerous and traumatic
intervention that we believe this diagnostic codewill help to
avert. Safe prevention strategies should be developed and
incorporatedto protect this vulnerable population including
de-escalation, positive behavioralinterventions and emotional
regulation techniques which are more effective atpreventing
wandering incidents and do not infringe upon the principles of
self-determination.
We believe every disabled individual with a history of wandering
who is at seriousrisk of injury, trauma or death should have access
to safety devices and
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]
