Alabama Seizes 7 Children from Family After Child with Autism Wandered to Neighbors

An Alabama couple is afraid that they may never get their children back. All 7 of their children were taken by DHR (the state's child protective services) after their not-yet diagnosed child with autism began wandering off. It is called "elopement" in the autism community, and is very common in children diagnosed with autism, happening in 49% of these kids, even in the best of homes and the most carefully guarded of situations. It is scary, but experts say that it does not at all reflect poor parenting. It has now been over a year since Sabrina and Tony Cartee's children were taken, and the state plans to file to terminate their parental rights for all of their kids, including the baby who was born in September, after the other children were taken by DHR. The breastfeeding newborn was seized at only a day and a half old and placed in a foster home.