A Neurodiversity-Oriented Approach to Address Autism Wandering as a “Problem Behavior” in Pediatrics

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Hotez, E. & Onaiwu, M. G. (2023). A Neurodiversity-Oriented Approach to Address Autism Wandering as a “Problem Behavior” in Pediatrics. Cureus, 15(6), e40862-e40862. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.40862

Journal or book title
Cureus
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Volume
15
Issue
6
Pages
e40862-e40862
Publication date: 23 Jun 2023 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 2 (50.0%)
  1. Emily Hotez
  2. Morénike Giwa Onaiwu *

Abstract

Pediatricians are frequently tasked with addressing autism "problem behaviors," including wandering, defined as leaving the safety of a responsible person's care or a safe area (alternatively referred to as elopement). In the following commentary, we - as autism researchers and individuals with lived experience - discuss the prevalence and public health consequences of wandering. We conceptualize wandering in the context of "problem behaviors" for autistic individuals and describe the current state of the evidence on wandering prevention and intervention. We emphasize that pediatricians have a unique opportunity to optimize their efforts to address wandering - as well as related "problem behaviors" - utilizing a neurodiversity orientation. This will allow them to enact approaches that address the potential upstream mechanisms underlying wandering to make these efforts more effective and provide critical assistance to families. In this manuscript, we provide recommendations to pediatricians to more effectively address the mechanisms underlying and exacerbating these challenges to improve the health, well-being, and quality of life of autistic children and their families. In particular, we recommend that pediatricians focus efforts toward 1) addressing the link between chronic stress and "problem behaviors"; 2) engaging individuals, caregivers, and families as experts in their health and development; and 3) collaborating with the systems and sectors relevant to autistic individuals and their families.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 08:02.

Cited references
32
With a DOI
28
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
4
4 / 32 (12.5%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
2 / 32 (6.2%)
References with detected author names
30 / 32 (93.8%)
Without detected author names
2
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
4
References with raw author names still to review
2
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
134
From DOI or external metadata
134
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
3
45 / 134 (33.6%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 89 / 134 (66.4%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
10 / 134 (7.5%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 10 / 45 (22.2%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 9 / 124 (7.3%).
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