Non-Verbal Autistic boy survives sub-zero temperatures

Post Reply New Topic

This really revs me up!

When I worked in the Emergency Department, a doctor told me a Down syndrome patient didn't need pain medication because “those people” can’t feel pain!

OMG ...........^^^ not feeling pain ,, that person should be locked up for just saying that .^^^ Used have mixed feeling about most all Doctors .
this kinda stuff just reinforces my ideas tha HUMAN classes should be a mandatory requirement in medical school ,, instead of trying to learn how to imitate famous doctors like dr. Mengele, famous dr of Auswitz in WW2 , doing
tests on human prisoners ..
YaaY for William beating the odds against bad situations.

^Not McDonald's french fries.... any other ones will do (we get the traditional British-styled ones here which are delicious) but I find it hard to believe the Mac ones originated from potatoes at all!

I think they took him to McDonalds as he was craving chips and he ate 5 bags of french fries!

I would do the same

not sure what autism has to do with this.

Black kid was found after playing loud hiphop and leaving out grape soda.

That last one wouldn't go so well but somehow this is a cute story about a "ret*d" and the amazing ability and courage to muster the ability to hear granted thanks to us playing sounds this adorable ret*d could hear

The ret*d is implied and this stuff annoys me.

This really revs me up!

When I worked in the Emergency Department, a doctor told me a Down syndrome patient didn't need pain medication because “those people” can’t feel pain!

Penny Callaghan, the mother of the 14-year-old boy who miraculously survived two lonely, frosty nights in Victoria's bushland, sat down for an emotional chat with Waleed Aly on The Project.

Opening up to the host, whose 13-year-old son is also on the autism spectrum, Ms Callaghan revealed it was characteristics of Will's intellectual disability that helped him survive without food or water on Mt Disappointment as temperatures plunged to near 0C.

Will had became separated from his family during a walk, and was found two days later after a massive search by a bushwalker, who said he was "calm and smiling" when approached.

Touching on how she thinks the teen survived the two nights largely unscathed, Ms Callaghan told Aly it was his resourcefulness that likely got him through.

"I had people constantly around me reminding me of his strengths, he is constantly on the move remember, he is very fit," Ms Callaghan explained.

"He's used to being out in the cold. He likes being outside all the time regardless of the temperature. It's almost as though he can't feel it," she added.

But it was how her son - who Ms Callaghan described as non-verbal - managed to source water that may have saved his life.

"Unlike your typical children, he will just drink from a puddle and not see anything wrong with that. In the wilderness that's perfectly fine and that's probably what got him through," she said.

Elsewhere in the emotional interview, the mum of two sons on the autism spectrum described the response from the public as "immensely moving".

"My experience with the general public and autism hasn't always been terrific," she admitted.

"I'm immensely moved because it means there are people in the community that do care … This little person is loved, that often isn't demonstrated in the wider community because he's different," she said.

As for how Will is coping now, after three nights in hospital, Ms Callaghan said he has 'definitely been affected' by the ordeal.

"He's very happy to be home and he's quite clingy with me. He often is that way when he has been distressed," she said.