In Benguet, a father's initiative is creating a database to aid in locating children with autism who wander off. After personal ordeals with his own sons going missing, Dean Cuanso leads Ausome North in compiling photos and contacts for police stations. The project seeks to hasten reunions in an area with over 200 recorded cases.
Dean Cuanso panicked when his five-year-old son on the autism spectrum wandered away from home, only to be located through a local police social media post. This was one of several incidents that spurred him to lead a community drive to simplify identifying and reuniting missing autistic children. His group, Ausome North, is assembling a database with photographs and parent contacts for children with autism and other disabilities in Benguet, to be shared with police stations.
The database already holds nearly 70 entries. The Autism Society Philippines estimates one in every 100 Filipinos is on the spectrum, while Benguet's Department of Education has logged 230 cases. Cuanso has three sons, two diagnosed in 2021 by a developmental pediatrician using DSM-5 criteria: Roga, 10, at level 3 requiring substantial support, and Rhemus, 9, at level 1 needing support.
“I was beside myself, I didn’t know where or how to find him,” Cuanso recounted of the first scare. Rhemus once turned up disoriented at a traffic intersection, aided by a passerby to police, while Roga was taken to La Trinidad's Women and Children Protection Desk. Social worker Chit Habon explained that such wandering often stems from escaping overwhelming noise or crowds, recommending measures like door alarms, ID bracelets with contacts, GPS wearables, recent photos shared with neighbors, and teaching safety skills.
Benguet police public information officer Major Edwin Sergio noted no standard procedure exists yet for these cases, but filed basic details would assist; he urged coordination with local Women and Children Protection Desks. As a blogger, Cuanso expanded his Autism Benguet page into Ausome North in 2024, linking families across northern Luzon. “When I’m gone, there will be a community who will help these ‘ausome’ children,” he said.
