Mother of autistic kids Sheletta Brundidge raises awareness for interior door locks after death of Hopkins toddler
Like this?
Log in to share your opinion with MPR News and add it to your profile.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Sheletta Brundidge remembers the first time her son with autism ran off. He was not too far in age from Waeys Ali Mohamed, the Hopkins toddler who police believe drowned in Minnehaha Creek earlier this month, after leaving his apartment building on his own.
Brundidge said she used the restroom for a beat, while her son hid in the closet during a game of Hide and Seek. But when she returned, he had left the house completely. She found him in the backyard, jumping barefoot on an icy trampoline in the below-zero cold.
“He’s giggling, he’s just happy to be jumping on the trampoline. He has no idea that his toes are blue,” she said. “That’s when I realized we got to do something because I had no idea how he got out of the house.”
Brundidge says she understands firsthand how difficult it is to ensure the safety of children who may be particularly prone to elopement. Like many other guardians of children with autism, Brundidge said hearing about the Hopkins toddler — who authorities said was nonverbal and autistic — made her think “this could be me.”
Support the News you Need
Gifts from individuals keep MPR News accessible to all - free of paywalls and barriers.
That’s why she wants other guardians in similar positions to find some extra security in a safety measure she’s calling a game changer: interior door locks.
On Tuesday, in partnership with Amazon and Hopkins law enforcement, Brundidge handed out free locks at Hopkins City Hall. The locks have a numerical pad on them, requiring a code to unlock doors from the inside. They’re usually about $30-50 a piece.
Brundidge, a mother to three children with autism, said she’s been using the locks for over five years now. She said she can finally close the door to shower or use the bathroom without worrying about her kids leaving the house. It’s a privilege she’s still getting used to.
Before she had the locks installed, Brundidge said she tried baby gates, but it wasn’t long before her kids could crawl over the plastic. Then, she tried deadbolts, but her kids would unlatch those, too. Chirp alarms on the door didn’t work either — by the time she heard the sound, her kids could be down the street, she said.
“What are you gonna do if you’re old and slow? Barefoot?” she said. “How are you gonna catch [your] child? You are not … I wish I could hug Waeys Ali Mohamed’s mother and tell her it is not your fault … people just don’t understand the complexity of having special needs children, and all the measures you have to do to keep them safe. Especially when your budget is limited.”
For guardians who attended the event, it seemed the interior lock was a new relief to just about everyone. That included Connie Trupka, who left work early to make sure she could get a lock. Trupka has a three-year-old grandson with autism, “and he is a runner,” she said.
When she learned that Waeys was found in Minnehaha Creek, Trupka said she “shed a lot of tears.” Her grandson has a tendency to wander toward water. It’s “his most favorite thing in the world,” she said — whether that’s a lake, a bathtub or the pond behind her house.
“It gets scary,” she said. “It’s not that you’re not watching, it’s not that you’re not caring, it’s not that you’re not trying to do everything you can do.”
Trupka said this was the first time she had heard about an interior lock, so she was excited to grab one, in preparation for the day her grandson unlocks the deadbolt.
“For a lot of the parents that are wanting more and don’t know how to get it or can’t get it or not heard of things like this, it’s exceptional that they’re doing this,” she said. “It’s very exceptional.”
Lafayette Butler-Robinson, who consults with daycares across the Twin Cities and has a grandson with autism, said it was also her first time hearing about interior locks. She’s hoping to spread the word, she said.
When visiting Waeys Ali Mohamed’s daycare this year, Butler-Robinson said she had the opportunity to meet him. She remembers dancing with the toddler while watching Gracie’s Corner on YouTube.
“He was a cool little kid. I’m gonna miss him,” she said. “But he had a big smile. So that I will remember him for.”