Minnesotans call for free swimming education for vulnerable children after boy with autism drowns
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — An 11-year-old boy found dead in a pond near his Eden Prairie home is the second child with autism in the Twin Cities metro to have drowned this year.
Fay Jede hoped her son, Waeys, who was 4, would be the last one.
Mohamed Mohamed was reported missing Sunday night. About four hours later, search teams found his body in a pond near his home.
When asked what she felt when hearing the news of Mohamed, Jede said, "The exact feeling that I felt June 10th. I cried, I was shocked."
Jede joined with other parents of children with autism in advocating for change.
A petition they started Sunday night has more than 800 signatures; it calls for free swimming education for all of Minnesota's vulnerable children.
"It is a life skill that should be accessible to all parents and all children," said Najma Siyad, a mother of a child with autism. "It should be part of their IEP plans."
Anisa Hagi-Mohamed has three children with autism.
"We live in a state that has 12,000 lakes, and we need to keep our children safe," she said. "This needs to be the last child that dies in this manner."
The parents say it is not fully understood why children with autism can want to escape, but they are often drawn to water.
"It's a fear that you always have, that someday your child will run away," Jede said.
Hagi-Mohamed's 6-year-old did it last year.
"She ended up running outside and she was close to a pond at the time I caught up with her," she said. "I actually had to jump in, and it was really muddy water thankfully, so she was kind of stuck there, but it was a very scary experience for me."
They are also advocating for other changes including an Amber Alert-style system for children with autism, more fences around bodies of water, and easier access to safety locks for inside the home.
"Some people are lucky their child got found and they come home safe," Jede said. "For some families like me, they're not that lucky."
According to the National Autism Association, half of kids with autism will try to escape a safe environment.
They are also 160 times more likely to die by drowning than other kids.
Police are still investigating Mohamed's death.
