How did 5-year-old Colum Canning fall into a pool at a Disneyland Paris hotel during a Christmas trip? Colum, who was autistic, was discovered in the pool by another guest, who pulled him out; he had already lost consciousess when he was taken to a hospital, where he died, today’s SkyNews reports.

Colum was just a typical wee boy who was so happy, so loving and so full of energy,

said Colum’s parents, Karen Canning and David Bradley of Derry, in a statement, and may he be remembered just like that.

Just as there is the Amber Alert for abducted children, should there be an “Autism Alert” when an autistic child is missing? The parents of Kaitlyn Bacile—-who, in September, was found drowned in a canal near her home —-think so, as reported in today’s WSVN (Florida):

While it’s too late for Kaitlyn, her parents hope some good can come from their tragedy.

Jay Bacile: “We want Kaitlyn’s life not to go in vain, at the very minimum we want to raise awareness. We just want her memory to live on and do good because that’s what Kaitlyn was, was pure goodness.

WSVN notes that current programs designed to report that autistic children are missing are “not being used consistently”:

The “Take Me Home” program supplies police with pictures and information of at-risk kids.

But of the 271 law enforcement agencies in Florida, only 41 use it. “A Child is Missing” is a national emergency system which can put out 1000 alert calls in one minute to a neighborhood where a child goes missing.

Claudia Corrigan, ACIM. “It’s important to get these calls out there immediately, and we can do it. You have a small window of time it’s a two to three hour and even then, if there’s water nearby it’s very very tough.”

The service is free to police, but they don’t always use it. Finally, only 37 police departments in Florida have picked up a program called project lifesaver.

Wristbands allow rescuers to track the person wearing it, but it puts the burden on parents to pay for a $300 bracelet. And most autistic children have sensory issues and won’t wear them.

Tina Brea: “This is a child that cannot communicate, that cannot understand the simple commands that others their age can. So any attention that can be brought to this the better.”

What would be the best way to spread the word, as quickly as possible, that a child is missing?

Last June, 10-year-old Jon Jon Jackson died while taking a nap after being in the pool of the apartment complex where he lived for about 45 minutes. The cause of his death was determined to be “asphyxiation due to drowning.” His mother, Cassandra Jackson, spoke nationally about the dangers of secondary drowning, which is a secondary injury caused to the lung when even a small amount of water (a teaspoon) gets in the lungs. Jon Jon had attention deficit disorder and autism.

Today, The Post and Courier (Charleston) reported that a family friend, Saquan Meekins, has been charged with homicide by child abuse:

An investigator’s affidavit accuses Meekins of holding the youngster underwater at the deep end of the pool. Unnamed witnesses told police that he made statements to the effect of, “‘You’re going to learn how to swim, one way or the other,’” while directing profanity at the boy.

They described Jon Jon trying to stay above the water, grabbing floating objects, as Meekins kept throwing him back in. At one point, they recalled the boy saying, “I want to live; I don’t want to die.” Meekins, they asserted, replied with something like, “that’s what happens when you don’t try to swim.”

Jackson said her son, who was developmentally disabled and had a condition similar to mild autism, often made dramatic statements. Someone who didn’t know him, she said, could have taken the comment about dying out of context.

The charges against Meekins carry a possible prison sentence of 10 years to life.

Being at the beach, water safety is not just a concern; it’s an every moment necessity. Charlie did a lot more swimming today (more on that later) and I still remember the relief I felt when, at the age of 6, he learned how to swim. This meant that, while still always keeping an eye on him, going to the pool and the beach was a bit (a bit) less nerve-wracking. Back in April, Deanna Muniz’s autistic son, Christopher, got out of the house and drowned. In his memory, Muniz has founded an organization, Christopher Connections, that, among other goals including promoting the important of swimming lessons for autistic children, creates “opportunities for affordable swim lessons for children with ASDs from qualified, certified swim instructors.”

The site notes that drowning is a “leading cause of death for children with autism spectrum disorders” (a study of mortality in autistic adults cites epilepsy as the leading cause of death, while another study mentions drowning along with “seizures and accidents such as suffocation”).

Needless to say—and take this from someone (me) who only learned to swim about five years ago—learning to swim is very much, more than worth it.

6-year-old Grayson Sherrell drowned in a backyard swimming pool last Friday, today’s Gaston Gazette reports:

Police say Grayson wandered off from the backyard of his grandparents, Robert and Betty Saunders of the 3600 block of Raven Hill Drive, Gastonia.

They realized he was gone after three or four minutes and began searching for him. When they didn’t find him after several minutes they called police, according to a press release.

A resident of 1105 Colony Court found him in the pool after coming home and began CPR. The boy was taken to
Gaston Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Grayson was to start first grade in the fall. He was diagnosed with autism at the age of three and, as his mother Donna Sherrell says, “‘was a very loving little boy.’”

Down here at the beach, water safety is Concern #1, and that goes for Charlie, who’s a good swimmer.

Many, many sympathies and thoughts to Grayson’s family.

10-year-old Johnny Jackson died last week while taking a nap in his house from “asphyxiation due to drowning”—-according to today’s ABC News, Johnny may have died from secondary drowning. Johnny, who had attention deficit disorder and autism, had been playing in the neighborhood pool for about 45 minutes. He was wearing flotation devices on his arms and was being monitored by his mother, Cassandra Jackson, and other adults. She noted that he was “taking a little bit of water in and coughing and then calming down” but that everything seemed fine. But then:

But less than two hours after getting out of the pool, Johnny had defecated in his pants twice and was complaining of being tired.

After being bathed and dressing himself, Johnny walked to his bed unaided, leading his mother to believe that he was simply tired from playing in the water.

But shortly after leaving him to nap, Jackson discovered her son unconscious and his face covered in a foam-like substance.

“My friend went back into the room where Johnny was sleeping and noticed what appeared to be cotton balls stuffed in his nose,” Jackson said of what turned out to be the foam from his nose and mouth. “She asked if I put them there and I said no — I went in and saw him and screamed for help.

“I rolled him over and his body was very limp and I realized he’d soiled himself again and was very purplish-blue looking,” said Jackson, who then called 9-1-1. “His tongue was really swollen, too.”

Johnny suffered from cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital, his mother said, and was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Berkeley County Coroner Glenn Rhoad examined Johnny’s body after the incident and told ABCNEWS.com that the preliminary autopsy showed the cause of death was asphyxiation due to drowning. Rhoad added that the boy had a lot of water in his lungs.

The ABC News story notes that, in secondary drowning, a secondary injury is caused to the lung when only a small amount of water—-only four ounces or about six teaspoons—-gets into the lungs.

My son’s a good swimmer but I never sit around and read magazines when we’re at the pool; while I don’t always get in the water anymore, I’m always watching him and following him around. Many years ago, an autism consultant told us about a family whose son was also a great swimmer. They had a pool in their backyard and one day—with both parents eating breakfast beside the pool—-their son drowned. The consultant emphasized that “this kid was a fabulous swimmer,” and that you never can be too careful in the water. Never.

I think I’ll be contacting my YMCA to ask about instructing their lifeguards in assisting autistic and special needs kids in the pool. Spending time in the water is so important for my son and we’ve got too take every precaution.

5-year-old Carlee Bennett of Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, apparently drowned in her bathtub on Saturday evening, according to the Fond du Lac Reporter. Carlee had severe autism and was found lying face-down in the bathtub. Her grandmother, a retired nurse, was babysitting her and her two brothers and immediately started administering CPR.

Emergency personnel took Carlee to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee where doctors were able to restart her heart, Bennett said. But Carlee, who had been without oxygen for as long as 30 minutes, had severe organ damage and likely severe brain damage.

“The way we’ll always remember her is as a loving, happy, giggling little girl,” Bennett said. “Everything to her was funny. She was always smiling, always happy.”

Carlee had a history of seizures but hadn’t had one in a few years, he said. She also had no bump on her head or other marks to suggest she had fallen or hit her head.

Carlee usually bathed in about three inches of water with a few toys, her father said. She had been left alone in the tub in the past for short periods without incident.

There was a similar case here in New Jersey a few years ago in which a little girl around Carlee’s age drowned in her bathtub. Some of my son’s therapists knew this little girl and no one knew what to say.

“Linda” Xuan Peng has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2004 drowning death of her 4-year-old autistic daughter Scarlet Chen, according to the March 1st Toronto Sun. Scarlets death was initially ruled an “unfortunate accident,” but, on February 28, 2005, Peng was arrested and charged with murder. The case went to trial on November 5, 2007. On the day of Scarlet’s drowning, her pediatrician, Dr. James Leung, had told Peng that Scarlet could not be cured by surgery.

“Linda” Xuan Peng, wearing a pink and white sweater and black slacks, kept her head bowed as the jury returned with the guilty verdict Saturday, prompting Peng’s stunned defense lawyer Kathryn Wells to break down in tears.

……………..

Also present in the court were Chen’s elderly mom Ning Li and her distraught husband “David” Xing Zhuang Chen, who crumped into sobs as Peng was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

Chen extended his arms in apparent attempt to gain the attention of Peng, who stared at the ground and didn’t lift her head up as she was led out of the court.

Peng has bipolar disorder; this was never revealed to the jury, out of a concern that this would prejudice her right to a fair trial.

Four-year-old Scarlet Chen drowned in the bathtub of her Scarborough, Ontario, home on July 12, 2004. Her death was initially ruled an “‘unfortunate accident,’” but, on February 28, 2005, Scarlet’s mother, Xuan Peng, was arrested and charged with murder. The case went to trial on November 5, 2007; Peng has been free on $110,000 bail since May of 2005. The February 7th Toronto Star reports on more details about the case, including a visit with pediatrician Dr. James Leung, hours before Scarlet died. “‘”In their mind, they still hadn’t given up on a quick solution,’” Dr. Leung told prosecutor Joshua Levy of Scarlet’s parents.

There is no “quick solution” or “quick fix” to get a child to start talking. There is the slow and steady effort school and teaching and therapy; these often (certainly in the case of y son) do not bring immediate results, but often ones that are long-lasting.

It’s not clear how much education Scarlet received, as she went to live with her grandmother, Li Ning, in China for some time of her short life.

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On January 27, 10-year-old Brandon Parrish Johnson wandered away from his residential facility, Howell Care Centers, in Carrabus County, North Carolina; he was found in a nearby creek. State medical examiners have determined that “the cause of death was accidental drowning and said Brandon’s autism was a contributing factor,” according to WCNC (details can also be read here). State officials also stated that the facility violated federal rules governing intermediate-care facilities for people with mental retardation and have given the center a $12,000 fine, a Type “A” penalty, the most serious that can be accessed.

Brandon was not the only child who had wandered away from the facility:

RHA Howell officials were unavailable for comment. Center officials met with parents Thursday to discuss the death and precautions taken since then to keep residents safe.

Jackie Miller of Charlotte attended the meeting. Her severely autistic 16-year-old son stays at the Clear Creek center.

“That’s all, $12,000?” she said.

During the parent meeting, Miller said, RHA Howell officials talked about improvements they were making to the campus off N.C. 24/27 (Albemarle Road).

“And you can’t protect a 10-year-old little boy?” Miller said in Monday’s interview.

She said her son once wandered away from the center and almost reached Albemarle Road, about a half-mile away.

The center, which has 120 beds for adults and children, is operating at capacity. A “Type A” fine for a mental health facility with 10 or more beds can range from $1,000 to $20,000.

But what “precautions….. to keep residents safe” were not being carried out prior to Brandon drowning and Miller’s son running away?