Safety has been always been top of mind for Jennifer Salamon of Shaler.

Her 19-year-old son, Roman, is nonverbal, autistic and has epilepsy. He also has an adventurous spirit.

“When he was younger, he had a tendency to elope, opening windows and doors,” Salamon said. “So we had door alarms, window alarms, extra locks, things like that.”

Today, the Salamon family has a surveillance camera, so that if Roman does leave the house, they’ll know which direction he’s headed.

Roman’s situation, along with others, is a big part of why the Autism Connection of Pennsylvania will be hosting its first autism safety expo Oct. 17-18 in Monroeville.

“I’ve worked in the autism world for about 30 years,” said Autism Connection Executive Director Lu Randall. “I’ve seen the meltdown of supports, services and funding, and I’ve seen families and adults who are left on their own to navigate what society throws at them. We started to think about what we could focus on, and safety quickly became the priority.”

Salamon said that while Roman had a wonderful team of doctors, “we really were on our own.”

“The day-to-day stuff is not really their expertise. I would call another autism mom, or I’d call Autism Connection,” she said.

In recent years, Roman has carried an iPad with him in order to help communicate.

“If he were to get away from us, with his iPad he can at least tell people what his name is, what our phone number is, those kinds of things,” she said.

Randall said the free safety expo, which will be held at Monroeville Volunteer Fire Company No. 4, will provide families with a wide range of tools from the safety toolbox.

“The Center for Deaf and Hearing Services will have fire alarms that use a flashing light instead of a loud noise that can frighten people with autism,” she said. “Project Lifesaver has a radio-frequency transmitter that people can wear, and law enforcement has a receiver. I can call the police and they can ping the frequency of the transmitter to find someone.”

Salamon said she has installed a child tracker GPS on Roman’s backpack for when he goes to school.

“If I know he’s going on a community outing, I’ll pin it to his shorts or shirt and we can use the Life360 app to sort of keep an eye on him during the day,” she said.

Attendees can also learn about Allegheny County’s special needs registry.

“If we have to call an ambulance, the registry lets them know there’s a person in the house with autism who’s non-verbal,” Salamon said. “That sort of gives them a heads-up to know what they’re walking into and they can prepare to act accordingly.”

Randall said many families and self-advocates struggle to navigate complex systems when it comes to legal rights, medical needs, emergency preparedness, and physical and social safety, and the expo offers an opportunity to access all of that information in one place, with experts who understand the challenges faced by the autism community.

It will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 17, and 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 18 at the fire company, 4370 Northern Pike in Monroeville.

For more information, see AutismOfPA.org.

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