Comments on: 5-year-old girl drowns in bathtub

By: Caitie

Caitie — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:30:47 +0000

that was my sister. i miss her so much. we left her alone for a short time and it was so scary to see the ambulance come up. I wish she could be here. My family and I are helping other children like Carlee in need. I was one of the siblings who dialed 911 and im proud to be her sister.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:26:58 +0000

So sad. Too often it feels that we can never keep our children safe enough.

By: Bonnie Sayers

Bonnie Sayers — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:10:56 +0000

I just read of another death:

Child struck, killed by train

GRAHAM — A 10-year-old autistic child was struck and killed by a train Saturday night as he walked on the tracks between Washington and Pomeroy streets, Graham police said Sunday.

Police said the child, who was described as “severely autistic,” wandered away from his home about 30 minutes prior to the incident. Police had already received a report that the child was missing and were searching the area when he was hit.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:38:39 +0000

Larry says more than he says and I thank him for it.

But this is a tough story to read about.

By: Greg S.

Greg S. — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:05:58 +0000

Laurentius,

Wading through your over wrought prose I sense some underlying guilt. Sure accidents happen but you try to mitigate them, reduce the chance. Ever heard of seat belts? Oh yeah, and that supervision thing. The fact that the kid died proves she should have been watched. Using more words than someone else doesn’t make you right.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Thu, 22 May 2008 21:21:00 +0000

Sorry it took so long to de-spam your comments, Bonnie. The May 21st Forester has details, though specifics of how many autistic children drown is not clear. And I know that even though Charlie is a very good swimmer, he very much needs to be watched all the time.

By: Bonnie Sayers

Bonnie Sayers — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:30:32 +0000

It looks like my comment was not posted with the link to the story on Ashley. It is probably at bulk mail for moderation. You can find it at adventures in autism blogspot dot com

By: Storkdok

Storkdok — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:23:19 +0000

I already posted a comment about Ashley, the little girl who drowned Sunday evening, on a previous post about swimming/drowning. I think it was overlooked with the debate on the restraining order going on.

I blogged about Ashley, too. She was a year behind my son in the same schools. We crossed paths at speech therapy and my son ate lunch with her at school. Our whole community is devastated at her loss. Her parents and twin sister are coping as well as could be expected, but everyone is still in shock.

Ashley saw the neighbors swimming pool the day before and wanted to go for a swim. There are two fences and gates, around her yard and the neighbors’. She slipped under the fences, stripped off her clothes like she was going to take a bath, and climbed a step ladder and got into the pool. They tried to resuscitate her for a long time in the field and at the hospital. There was even a physician who lived nearby who assisted at the poolside.

It is tragic. She was a lovely little girl. Her parents will be starting a fund at our school for teaching the special needs children to swim. Her mother has expressed the desire to advocate for all children on the spectrum, as she has so much knowledge from her experiences advocating for Ashley.

By: Bonnie Sayers

Bonnie Sayers — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:56:58 +0000

Here is an article I wrote after an incident.

It is called – keeping children on the autism spectrum safe:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art40928.asp

By: Bonnie Sayers

Bonnie Sayers — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:55:55 +0000

These two were surprising to me since they involved girls and for years now I have read and seen on the news reports of boys drowning and in 2008 two girls within one week is alarming.

What also happens this time of year and has nothing to do with autism is the number of parents and caregivers, babysitters etc that leave children in hot cars while they go to work or shopping with the kids expiring. Last year I notified security when I parked next to a car that had a dog inside with no windows and they ended up breaking the window to save the animal.