Autistic Boy Suffocates at School

From the CTV evening news:

Report into child’s death

A coroner has ruled that a school south of Montreal acted improperly when it wrapped an autistic boy in a heavy blanket, leading to the child’s death.

Gabriel Poirier, 9, suffocated at a school for handicapped children in April.

Teachers had wrapped him inside a blanket sometimes used to calm autistic children.

In the dark

For a long time, his parents thought their son died accidentally at Ecole Marie Riviere in St. Jean-sur-richelieu after he had become agitated.

But a coroner’s report revealed the boy was wrapped inside the 39-pound blanket four times with his head inside and his arms pinned to his side. He was also left unsupervised.
When his teachers went to remove him from the blanket 20 minutes later, his face was swollen and blue. He died the next day in hospital.

Fallout

So far there have been no criminal charges but the family plans to launch a civil suit against the school. The Commission Scolaire des Hautes Rivieres, which oversees the school, has ordered all its facilities to stop using the blanket until it gets clear directives from the government.

For those readers not familiar with the concept of a weighted blanket, it helps some people with sensory integration disorder (common in autistic kids) to settle down. These kids often have trouble to feel where their bodies are in space, and some crave weight or pressure. They will bump or crash into things (or people) throw themselves to the floor, hit themselves, etc. Sitting under a weighted lap pad or blanket, wearing ankle weights or a weighted backpack, moving around heavy objects, etc. are often therapeutic.

That being said, these are measures usually prescribed by an occupational therapist and people using them should be trained by the OT in their safe and appropriate use. Wrapping anyone up with both arms restrained and face covered falls far short of anything even vaguely therapeutic. Leaving a restrained person alone unsupervised is just plain negligence.

Yes, autistic kids do like to get rolled up in the “kid burrito.” Maybe even a couple turns of the blanket or rug. But one would never wrap a child four times in a 39 lb blanket and then walk away from him. He needs to be able to get free if he becomes uncomfortable.

Fortunately, my son’s OT is the salt of the earth. We’re finishing up our school year, and she’s already planning for his activities & therapies for next fall. The Bug gets great OT care at his school, and we know that nobody lays so much as a finger on him without being properly trained by the therapist. She is ultra-careful, and sets an example the folks at this St-Jean school would do well to follow.