Well, it’s unfortunately happened again and this time in my home state. 7-year-old Anna Mburu was found dead in the Merrimack River in Lowell, Massachusetts. Anna was on the autism spectrum and was also non-verbal which is a sign that this was probably a case of being attracted to the fascination of water.
Now, out of respect for her family and friends, I will not go into too much detail or speculation about what had happened. But, I will say that this is unfortunately still a common problem amongst neurodiverse families and individuals. Neurodivergent children and adults are prone to eloping and wandering off into uncharted or unsafe territory.
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Not too long ago, I was down on Hutchinson Island in Florida presenting “Autism in Disney Characters” at Infinite Learning Academy’s family and educator retreat/conference and there were two characters I brought up that represent a trait of autism that involves wandering. Those characters were Alice from “Alice in Wonderland” and Belle from “Beauty and the Beast.” I mentioned that both Alice and Belle are two very curious individuals who are attracted by something that is fascinating while also dangerous. One of the things I made aware was that while we tend to have curiosity, that same curiosity can get us into trouble.
While Alice merely fell down a rabbit hole and into Wonderland, Belle ended up being drawn to the West Wing and as a result, she ended up eloping from the Beast’s castle and into a pack of wolves. Had it not been for the Beast, her situation could have ended up tragic.
Now some people may think that I might bring up these two characters far too often, but I put them there for a reason. Both Alice and Belle represent those who don’t take into account their surroundings because their curiosity clouded their overall judgment.
This goes to show that the mission to protect our neurodivergent loved ones from wandering/eloping will never end and we must continue to do whatever it takes to ensure that what happened to Anna doesn’t happen to anyone else.
May Anna Mburu rest in peace…
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Catch you all later!!
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