Michelle Ballan
Stony Brook University, NY·Social Science
About one in six U.S. children aged 3 to 17 now has a developmental disability.
- Fields
Social Science
Engineering
Computer Science
- Topics
wandering
elopement
developmental disabilities
- Grants
- 1 known grant, last ended Sep 2026
What they work on
- Determine how quality of life can improve for people with developmental disabilities who tend to wander and for their caregivers, using an advisory group, focus groups and surveys with families, agency staff and first responders.
- Develop low-cost, non-invasive sensor technologies that fit into existing homes and buildings to detect wandering by children and adults with developmental disabilities.
- Test whether combined multimodal data streams can reveal a person's intent to wander, and whether SafeGuard can de-escalate an incident before or during it, through a pilot study.
More about the research
Many of these children wander, leaving a safe area without supervision or permission, sometimes to explore and sometimes to escape uncomfortable sensory input. Wandering often continues into adulthood and can lead to psychological harm, injury or death. Current fixes such as gates, locks, alarms and GPS tracking work only partly and can limit a person's autonomy, privacy and quality of life.
Why it matters
Children and adults with developmental disabilities who wander, and their families and caregivers, could benefit from low-cost sensor systems that detect and calm wandering without locks or constant tracking. Such tools may lower the risk of injury or death while protecting privacy and autonomy. Disability agencies and first responders could also gain better ways to prevent and respond to wandering incidents.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Nancy Brady
University of Kansas, KS·Psychology
Determine how early factors such as parenting, communication, autism symptoms and biomarkers, and later factors such as transition plan quality, predict employment, independence and quality of life in young adults with fragile X syndrome.
Jason Wiese
University of Utah, UT·Computer Science·Early-career
Document how patients, visitors, and hospital employees from physicians to custodial staff currently use rehabilitation hospital rooms already equipped with smart home technology, through observations, interviews, and analysis of device log data.
Stephen Lee
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Computer Science
Test whether inexpensive off-the-shelf sensors placed by residents can pinpoint where a specific home loses energy, without professional audit equipment.
The school
Stony Brook University: 32 labs on PI Pages, $319M a year on research, 289 research doctorates a year.
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