Preventing drowning tragedies: First responders train for autism-related water risks

The swimming pool was behind a tall fence.

It was an alluring destination for a particular person in the Warwick neighborhood.

An autistic 13-year-old boy had repeatedly visited the pool without permission, sometimes even scaling the fence for the sake of a swim, according to an account cited in a Warwick police report.

Then, this past August, the report says, the teen's brother, who was just 3 years old, ventured into the pool with him and drowned.

Young people with autism are frequently attracted to pools and ponds, beaches and bays, safety experts say.

And all children, even swimmers, need proper oversight in the water for safety, especially at night or in cold weather.

More: Unpredictable killers: Rip currents tear along RI beaches. Here's how to stay safe

The death of the Warwick teenager's younger brother illustrates such dangers. But it's not the typical scenario for a tragedy involving autism and water environments.

The more common situation involves an autistic child who wanders off alone and turns up dead in the water.

"Drowning has been well recognized as a leading cause of death for autistic kids," says Dr. Guohua Li, a professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

In 2017, a study led by Li found that children with autism were "160 times as likely to die from drowning as the general pediatric population."

Recent child deaths in Michigan and Texas show the risk.

Autistic children are frequently drawn to nearby bodies of water

In October, a 2-year-old boy who had autism and was nonverbal disappeared from his family's house in a rural area outside Lansing, Michigan, according to a USA TODAY report.

A month earlier, the boy had made a similar foray.

An intensive search, supported by drones, helicopters, divers, dogs and 500 volunteers, ended sadly two days later. The child was found dead in the Looking Glass River.

A few days after Thanksgiving, a 7-year-old autistic boy in Texas went missing, according to the sheriff's office in a community near Austin.

The boy's parents telephoned 911 and found signs that their son was in a large pond near their house, the sheriff's office said.

That evening, the child's body was found in the pond. The water was 56 degrees and 5 feet deep.

'Elopement' behavior precedes immersion

A behavior that experts refer to as "elopement" is often a factor in tragedies involving children with autism.

Here a child feels a strong urge to seek a measure of relief from stress by slipping away from a household.

During elopement, children can walk into dangerous environments, such as high-speed traffic.

A frequent destination, experts say, is a pool or the waterfront.

"These kids usually experience heightened anxiety in a new environment and social setting," Li told The Providence Journal in an email.

"To cope," Li said, "they tend to elope and seek relief and comfort from water bodies such as ponds, lakes, and rivers," he said.

"Unfortunately, too often, this common behavior leads to tragedy if the kid hasn’t acquired swimming ability and water safety skills," he said.

Li says swimming lessons and water safety training should be "the first line treatment for children with [autism spectrum disorder] ASD."

Parents should enroll children in swimming lessons as soon as they are diagnosed, Li says.

Joanne G. Quinn, executive director of The Autism Project, a Johnston-based nonprofit, says she agrees that swim training is crucial for children with autism.

Can RI parents get swimming lessons for children with autism?

But arranging swimming lessons for autistic children in Rhode Island has proven challenging and exorbitantly expensive, Quinn says.

In addition to highly specialized instruction, each child needs an individual caretaker in the pool, she says.

And some children with autism who know how to swim will continue to lack the danger awareness they need to avoid certain hazardous swimming environments, such as rushing rivers or ice-cold water, Quinn says.

"They do not have any sense of danger," she says.

During the holiday season, when families travel to visit relatives or attend parties, the risk for wandering can be greater, Li warns.

"These kids usually experience heightened anxiety in a new environment and social setting," he says.

The situation is complicated by other social trends.

For example, a vigilant and responsible adult might see a particular young person alone and sense, correctly, that the child is about to wander into traffic or wade into a dangerous current.

But physical intervention might be the only way to protect the child, and adults who touch children they don't know can face severe consequences.

"That's the kind of position we're in," says Jonathon Sexton, a Lincoln police officer. "People looking out for each other's kids has gone by the wayside."

Sexton is a member of the Public Safety Special Needs Coalition, which has investigated different ways of tracking autistic children. What works for some children doesn't always work for others.

Rhode Island police and firefighters learning about dangerous autism behaviors

The Autism Project is working to spread awareness and provide training on dangerous situations stemming from elopement and wandering.

The organization has trained police officers, including some Warwick officers, as well as firefighters, families and caregivers.

In 2022, the project tapped into a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to help fund the work.

Parents and caretakers are being encouraged to call 911 as soon as a child goes missing. Searchers are being taught to focus on nearby pools and bodies of water.

Police officers are being encouraged to get to know young autistic people.

The Autism Project has compiled 5,000 informational packets, half of them in Spanish, Quinn says.

Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study showing that an estimated one in 36 8-year-olds had autism in 2020.

The announcement was not missed by the Warwick Police Department, which cited the statistic as it celebrated Autism Awareness Month.

"We will strive to do our part to continue to train our officers to properly recognize and handle situations involving those with autism," said Warwick police Capt. Robert Hart.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Autism raises risk of drowning in children. What RI parents can do.