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Landon “Waldy” Raber, who is non-verbal and has Down syndrome, was found dead in a pond around 5:30 a.m. Monday, July 11 after he wandered away from his home in Buckingham County Sunday evening, authorities said.
Onnex Thompson-Hall, a 6-year-old boy with autism, was also found dead in a pond the day before not too far from his home in upstate New York.
He was reported missing from the Washington County Fairgrounds at around 10:40 a.m. Sunday July 10 and was found dead by New York State DEC Forest Rangers just before 7 p.m. that evening near his home in Easton.
Both boys were loved by their families and all who knew them from their local communities.
The risk of drowning for children with autism may be about 10 times greater than for other children, according to research done in 2020 by Florida Atlantic University's Center for Autism and Related Disabilities.
"Individuals with autism that are left unsupervised near bodies of water are very likely to drown. I truly believe we need local resources to make swimming lessons AFFORDABLE and ACCESSIBLE to special needs families!"
A mother of a child with autism posted her frustration and sadness about the two similar drowning incidents this past weekend.
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