Stories involving neurodivergent children break my heart.
A 15-year-old boy with autism found dead in Baldwin County. A 5-year-old nonverbal child in Port St. Lucie found in a lake only hours after slipping out of sight. Two young lives gone. Two families shattered. Two communities in mourning.
Any parent of a neurodivergent child knows the fear behind these headlines. I know it myself. Children with autism often gravitate toward water. They wander without understanding danger. They cannot call out for help. They cannot always respond when searched for. And when minutes matter, families are left fighting a battle they never asked for.
The truth is simple. We do not talk about this enough. We do not invest in this enough. We do not support these families enough. The science behind autism is still emerging. The accountability behind environmental and developmental causes is even newer. The number of families raising neurodivergent children is rising, yet the systems built to protect them remain outdated, underfunded and reactive.
We cannot continue accepting preventable loss as part of the story.
If I am entrusted with leadership, I will push for real change. Better tracking programs. Faster statewide alert systems. Increased training for law enforcement. Expanded support for exhausted caregivers. Greater investment into autism research. Stronger accountability for agencies responsible for coordinating missing child responses. This will not be optional. It is a moral obligation.
Families deserve a country that protects their children. They deserve technology that prevents tragedy. They deserve leaders who understand the weight they carry.
We must bring awareness to these cases. We must build solutions that match the scale of the problem. And we must stand with every family raising a neurodivergent child, not with sympathy alone, but with action.
I intend to be a voice in that fight.
