HOUSTON – Fifth Ward native Sheletta Brundidge returned to her hometown to raise awareness about the importance of interior door locks for families who have children with special needs.
Brundidge, a national autism advocate, gave away 100 keyless electronic interior combination door locks on Saturday during the event at the YMCA on Cavalcade Street in Houston.
The donation comes after the death of a 12-year-old nonverbal child with autism last month. Aisha Adebayo’s body was found in a lake near her home in Fulshear.
After learning about the tragedy, Brundidge began collecting locks and planning the giveaway event.
She knows all too well how children on the spectrum are drawn to water. Three of her four children have autism.
“We’re watching our kids, but they are very fast,” Brundidge explained. “I have gates, fences, a door chirp, security cameras and internal locks but still my kids have gotten out of the house. You can yell ‘stop’ but a child who is nonverbal and can’t follow simple instructions won’t stop.”
Brundidge travelled from her home in Minnesota to Houston this past weekend to host the giveaway herself.
“Kids with autism are drawn to water and a lot of times, they wander and elope away from their homes. Their routine is off because it’s summertime, and they can’t swim. So, we’re going to have a lot more of these incidents if we don’t get those interior combination door locks on the homes,” she said on Saturday.
In June, Brundidge donated 100 keyless electronic interior combination locks in Hopkins, Minnesota following the death of a 4-year-old boy in that city. The child, who had autism, also wandered away from his home and drowned.