TIMONIUM, Md. — Maryland schools are now required to notify parents the same day a child wanders or elopes at school, thanks to a new law named after a 3-year-old boy with autism who drowned after wandering from home.
In 2024, Brittany Bledsoe, a Gaithersburg resident, experienced an unspeakable tragedy when her son, Ace, wandered away and drowned in their Montgomery County apartment complex's pool.
The following year, she helped lobby Annapolis for a law named after her son.
TIMONIUM, Md. — Maryland schools are now required to notify parents the same day a child wanders or elopes at school, thanks to a new law named after a 3-year-old boy with autism who drowned after wandering from home.
WATCH: New Maryland law requires schools to notify parents when children wander away
In 2024, Brittany Bledsoe, a Gaithersburg resident, experienced an unspeakable tragedy when her son, Ace, wandered away and drowned in their Montgomery County apartment complex's pool.
The following year, she helped lobby Annapolis for a law named after her son.
"If your kid is at school and wandering, you should know that," Bledsoe told WMAR-2 News on Monday.
"They might wander at school, and not at home," she noted.
Shelly McLaughlin, program director for Pathfinders for Autism, explained more about the law's effects...
