Finding Joshua
a documentary about autism

On September 12, 2011, a small eight-year-old boy slipped through the fence of his grade school and escaped into the San Bernardino National Forest. The boy, Joshua Robb, is an autistic "eloper." Children on the autism spectrum have a tendency to wander (or elope) for any reason at all. Joshua had a good reason; he was looking for his parents.
​

Three weeks earlier, what was then called Child Protective Services had separated him from his parents and placed him in the custody of his teacher. They had always been a close-knit family.

Ron, Trish and Joshua had fallen on hard times during the Great Recession. Like many others, their home was in foreclosure. With their belongings in boxes on the front lawn, and with Ron away on an errand, Trish lightly tethered Joshua to a fence to keep him from running off or getting into potentially dangerous family things. As luck would have it, the realtor that had foreclosed on them drove by and reported the incident to CPS.

 

The search for Joshua became a national, even international story. Our documentary focuses on the plight of one family dealing with autism, elopment and the misunderstandings of would-be do-gooders. It is an exploration of a little-understood aspect of autism.

 

................................

 

Documentary Film Crew is a MeetUp group that first came together in 2013. We are all volunteers helping one another to produce socially-useful documentaries. The crew's varying degrees of experience is supplemented by no lack of enthusiasm. Please contact us for additional information. All comments and suggestions are welcome.