Independence- the positives and negatives

The weekend before Halloween Robbie went for almost 48 hours without sleep- a new record.  The main reason for the lack of sleep was his tooth pain and massive amounts of candy. As I mentioned before Robbie requires dental surgery to fix some problems with his teeth-namely a large cavity. He will not sit in the dentist office. After months of fighting with my insurance company regarding their coverage of the anesthesia and hospital portion- it was finally approved. There is a mandate in the state of NJ that allows for those with special needs to get these services covered. It's funny that they finally mentioned this after I threatened legal action.
Finally Robbie had his dental work done. My husband and mother in law went with him and he was extraordinary. He did everything that was asked of him and the anesthesiologist actually said "He's really high functioning." This made Dad very happy. 
The moral of the story with Robbie is- you just never know. In situations where I am sure he'll be well behaved - he can be a nightmare and in situations where I'm positive he'll be a nightmare- an angel.
Yesterday morning our doorbell rang at 9am. Rob went to answer it and found our next door neighbor informing us he had retrieved our dog and put her in our fenced in backyard (which he does often) and by the way, Robbie was running down the street barefoot in  pajamas.  Rob and I looked at each other for a second. Rob had been helping Lexi get dressed so she could play outside and I was putting Timmy down for a nap. Rob ran out the door and the phone rang. Our friends two doors down letting me know Robbie was with them. He had knocked on the door and when they let him in he was very talkative and mildly agitated. This was the same place he ran off to the last time this happened over the summer.  Rob brought him home and sent him to his room. Then he went to the next door neighbors to thank them. I spoke to Robbie who was crying. I said "you scared us. We didn't know where you were. We love you and you scared us." His response" I scared you? Sorry." A few more tears and many hugs.
This is a pretty normal situation- I think. He's 7 and a half. He wanted to go to our friends house- a place we frequent and he enjoys. We were busy- so he went. Impulse control is of course an issue and  the lack of communicating to us where he was going- but as far as the situation itself- I get it. I think he gets it too- that we were scared.  Still, we will once again be double and triple locking the doors.
Our neighbor asked what we're going to do. Especially as he gets older. My thought was - why didn't you stop the child and leave the dog? The answer - I think- is one of the main reasons I write this blog. He probably was uncomfortable with Robbie- my Autistic son. I can't be upset by this- it happens. We all have seen special needs adults or children and may have felt a little uneasy. Not really understanding what their needs, issues, challenges are. Today every single one of us- will be touched by Autism, if you are not already. A sister, cousin, daughter, friend or coworker will have a child on the spectrum.
So- what are going to do as Robbie gets older? He is asserting independence. I don't think that is such an awful thing. He has left the house without telling us twice in the last 6 months. Both times going to a familiar place.  A place that is safe. Honestly- it could be so much worse. Maybe we will let him walk down on his own- watching of course.