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Autistic boy likely suffocated:
coroner's report
Brett Bundale The Gazette
Thursday, June 19, 2008
A coroner's report released today
revealed suffocation as the probable cause of the death of a
nine-year-old autistic boy.
The boy's parents described the
reports findings as a "shock" because the school told them he had
passed away "naturally and calmly."
The boy, Gabriel Poirier, attended
a specialized school in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, in the Montérégie
region of Quebec.
On April 17, Gabriel began to
disturb his class with loud sounds. After being told repeatedly to
calm down by a teacher, he was rolled in a weighted blanket. With
his arms by his side, he was left on his stomach for over 20 minutes
with only his toes exposed.
When the teacher went to check on
him, he was "listless and blue in the face," the Coroner's report
said. The teacher called 911 but the boy was already in a deep coma
and passed away the next day in the Sainte-Justine hospital.
"He was a very gentle boy.
Sometimes he was loud, but he was never aggressive or violent,"
Gilles Poirier, the boy's father, said today.
The parents' lawyer, Jean-Pierre
Ménard, said vulnerable children like Gabriel need better
protection.
"We're asking Minister Courchesne
to implement a legal framework to regulate how these children are
handled," Ménard said.
Weighted blankets are custom-made
blankets filled with a specific material that gives the blanket
added weight. They are considered an effective tool for helping calm
down high-energy children, especially autistic children who respond
well to sensory therapy.
"They have a therapeutic use and
can be relaxing," said Kathleen Provost, executive director of the
Autism Society of Canada.
But occupational therapists have
developed a set of rules and protocols that must be followed when
using a weighted blanket, Provost said.
bbundale@thegazette.canwest.com
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