Autism Belize Weighs in On Death of 6-Year-Old Autistic Child

We also spoke with Christy Almeida, the Co-Founder of Autism Belize. She shared her perspective on the tragic events and the heartbreak it has caused for her organization and the staff at Stella Maris. Almeida, who is also the mother of an autistic teenager, expressed deep sorrow over the situation.

 

Christy Almeida, Co-Founder, Autism Belize

“Devastating, I am a mother, as you all know, of a child with autism. I have two great fears in my life. One of them is that I will die before my son, and I don’t know who will take care of him. The other is that he will elope and end up passing away because of an accident. Seventy-one percent of autistic died because of elopement and drowning. This is something that terrifies me. If you watch social media, a lot of my autistic families posted and I was very proud of them to share when they know how difficult this is. But a lot of them posted about this being their greatest fear. My son has eloped a dozen times. I can describe so many of these situations, whether he was with me or his father or different people. My son is alive today because of a village, neighbors, people that came out and helped, somebody that saw him and dropped him back. I have these stories, these are vivid. I am so devastated, for the family, for the Stella Maris community, for the parents, for the ministry because I think this has hit us. All the special ed officers was at Stella Maris until six o’clock last night. And I cant imagine the pain the family is going through. It is unimaginable. It is devastating.”