Every time an autistic person, an intellectually or developmentally disabled person, or another vulnerable individual goes missing and the system fails to respond, families are left carrying something no one should have to carry alone. We have seen this happen too many times, and it’s resurfacing in the call for a national emergency alert framework. We want to speak to it gently, with what we have learned along the way.
A National Standard
AutismBC supports Petition e-7703. It calls on the federal government to bring provinces, territories, law enforcement, and autism and disability organizations together to build shared national standards for a missing persons alert framework, specifically to better protect autistic people, non-speaking individuals, and people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. We believe this thinking can and should extend further, to vulnerable persons more broadly, so that no one falls outside protection simply because of how a category is defined.
Alert authority currently sits with each province and territory, which can mean protection varies depending on where you live, and we believe that is worth addressing. Advocates across the country have carried this work for years, often feeling fragmented and working in isolation from one another, and we hold that work with respect.
More information is available through the Autism Alliance of Canada’s report, What We Heard: Building a Safer Emergency Response When People Go Missing. AutismBC had the privilege of being part of shaping this work by joining the roundtable and providing feedback that shaped its call to action.
Prevention and Response
Most of the advocacy so far, including the petition itself, understandably centers on the moment someone goes missing: how quickly an alert goes out, how wide it reaches, and how fast a search begins. We believe that conversation also needs to include what happens once someone is found or encountered. Whether a first responder recognizes what they are witnessing, and whether there is room to slow down rather than escalate, is a piece we hold as central, not an afterthought. Conversations happening across sectors right now, among researchers, first responders, and families, are beginning to name this same shift toward prevention and thoughtful response, and we hope that continues to grow.
Self-Identification and Trauma-Informed Support
A few other pieces travel with us into this conversation that many can identify with. Requiring a formal diagnosis to qualify for protection may leave out people who are already waiting years for assessment, particularly in Northern and rural communities. We hold a vision of a voluntary, self-identified system built around functional needs, not a label. Nothing about us without us.
We also imagine care that continues after an alert concludes: trauma-informed support for families regardless of outcome and space for communities to grieve together, reaching beyond simply “found” or “not found.”
Moving Forward
We recognize the system today is fragmented, and we do not believe any single organization holds the full answer to what comes next. We believe the way forward is working alongside others who bring experience and knowledge to this space, extending care and protection to vulnerable persons of all kinds. We hope this statement contributes to the wider conversation already underway, alongside it rather than apart from it. Getting help to arrive faster matters. What happens afterward matters just as much.
For anyone who feels moved to add their name, petition e-7703 is open for signatures.
