SchaferAutismReport: Autistic Man Recovering After Rescue In Wis.

[Guest guest]

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 Reader Supported Vol. 12 No. 92p

In This Issue:

• • •

PEOPLEAutistic Man Recovering After Rescue In Wis.Autistic Toddler Kicked Off AirplanePolice Aid In Search For Missing Service Dog

•

CAREUniversity of Louisville to Create Autism Center

•

PUBLIC HEALTHMediterranean Diet In Pregnancy May Curb Allergies

• • • •

EDUCATIONFather Fights LEAP Test Criteria To Help Autistic SonLarger Special Ed Classes Upset Parents Special Ed Twins Get OK For GraduationCOMMENTARYUSAToday: Autism Myth Lives On

DEADLINEWEDS. June 25 For JulyAutism Events CalendarSubmit listing here free!

the Autism Calendartm hereHundreds of Local Autism Events

PEOPLEAutistic Man Recovering After Rescue In Wis. By Steve Karnowski Associated Press. tinyurl.com/52vweo Kennedy's parents figure they'll never know why their autistic 25-year-old son wandered away from a camp for developmentally disabled adults and spent a week lost in the woods. They're just grateful rescuers found him in time. And Bruce and Kennedy, as well as their son's doctor, say they likely will never know how he managed to survive without the skills to fend for himself, and with a failing transplanted kidney. Kennedy was dehydrated, suffering from hypothermia, naked, filthy, and covered with ticks and bug bites when a St. firefighter found him Sunday evening. He was in thick brush next to a creek bed on swampy ground about a mile from the camp in northwestern Wisconsin. He had been missing for just a half-hour shy of a full week, and didn't take his anti-rejection drugs. "How did he survive? He's a very lucky young man," Dr. Whelan of the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, told reporters Monday. He probably had just hours left to live by the time he was found, the doctor said. But by Monday morning, Kennedy's condition was stable and improving. His temperature was back to normal from a low of around 84 and he was getting fluids. The ticks weren't the type that carry Lyme disease, but Kennedy was getting antibiotics as a precaution. "Right now his kidney function is not very good, but he is making urine," Whelan said. He said it hadn't been necessary so far to put him on dialysis, and the doctor said he was optimistic that the kidney Kennedy received from his father in a 1995 transplant would recover well enough. Kennedy's clothes weren't immediately found. Whelan noted that it's not unusual for hypothermia victims to think they're hot and take their clothes off. But Kennedy said it wouldn't have been unusual for her son to take his clothes off "if they were wet or awful." Fortunately, temperatures were mild. The 13 campers at the Trade Lake Camp in Grantsburg, Wis., had just been given their nighttime snacks and the others were heading off to bed when Kennedy disappeared June 15. Staffers speculate he sneaked back to the cafeteria to get more popcorn, then ran off because he was afraid of getting in trouble. Hundreds of volunteers joined law enforcement officers, firefighters and medics in the search that followed. His parents prayed for a miracle and refused to give up hope, but by Sunday evening had begun discussing with authorities whether to scale back the search. When they heard shouts that he had been found, they got in the sheriff's car so quickly they didn't get confirmation that he was alive until they were en route to the scene. "I can't even put it into words," Kennedy said, choking up with emotion. "You can only imagine what we've been going through. It's parents' worst nightmare, it's my definition of hell on earth. It's a nightmare that just wouldn't end. And it's just so incredible how everything came together and we're at this point now. We're just so grateful and so hopeful." Bruce Kennedy said it would have been fascinating to have followed his son on his journey. But his son, who can speak only four words, isn't likely to provide any insights on what happened. "We're not anticipating him communicating anything about this," he said. "He's never spoken in the past tense in his life." Kennedy had been a "runner" since he was 3 years old, his mother said. The parents kept their Minneapolis home where he grew up tightly secured. "Our house really, truly was like Fort Knox," she said. They tried constantly to make sure someone knew where in the house he was, but he would still manage to escape go to nearby stores or factories, they said. "I think he bit off more than he could chew," Bruce Kennedy said. "I think he got overwhelmed and he lost his bearings and somehow landed in a horrible spot. But maybe we'll never know." Whelan said there's no good way to know if Kennedy ate or drank anything in the woods, though his mother said he would have known enough to drink from a stream if he was able. He probably lost a lot of weight, though his doctor and parents didn't know how much. Searchers had passed near the spot where he was found at least a couple times, but it wasn't clear if he was there yet or ended up there later. Kennedy said the lesson is that it's imperative for searchers to keep going back over areas that have already been checked. The Kennedys, who live in Roseville while their son lives in a group home in Shoreview, said they'll likely stay glued to either side of him when they take him out in public again. Bruce said he was going to do some research into GPS tracking devices. And they weren't sure if they'll let him go to camp again. "When hell freezes over," Kennedy joked.

For rest of today's SAR click here:www.sarnet.org/frm/forsar.htm Today's SAR is provided through the support of paid subscription readers. - THANK YOU -

$35 for 1 year - or free!www.sarnet.org

Copyright Notice: The above items are copyright protected. They are for our readers' personal education or research purposes only and provided at their request. Articles may not be further reprinted or used commercially without consent from the copyright holders. To find the copyright holders, follow the referenced website link provided at the beginning of each item.

Lenny Schafer editor@... The Schafer Autism Report is a non-profit corporation

Unsubscribe here: www.sarnet.org/frm/unsub2.htm

_______________________________________________

SARnets mailing list

SARnets@...

http://lists.igc.org/mailman/listinfo/sarnets

You can unsubscribe send email:

http://www.sarnet.org/frm/unsub2.htm

--

You are subscribed as:

denisekarp@...