NOTE: A sad story to begin the week from The Greenwich Times, Greenwich, CT. Our kids (hopefully) have a long life ahead of them, despite their autism. Try to teach them to swim. Try to get a modicum of safety awareness into them. And consider a wandering device if they are either prone to wandering, or have enough independence to be out and about on their own. Brita Darany Von Regensburg, founder of Friends of Autistic People in Greenwich wrote on her FB page:
The autism community family are mourning the passing of a gentle soul in Greenwich, Kenneth Woodd-Cahusac. Kenny was an adult who had a very light form of autism. He lived independently and everyone whom he passed by on his daily rounds along the Post Road and in Riverside loved to see and wave to him. He was found drowned in a shallow area of the Mianus River last Thursday.His sister and I have been in touch from the early days of FAP when we had begun advocating and raising awareness of autism. She and her daughter generously gave of their time volunteering at a FAP event. She mentioned that her brother was a good swimmer but that he did NOT have that fascination with water that many individuals with autism have and generally did not go to the water on his walks. She was very kind in thanking me for having made the entire community including the police more knowledgeable and autism friendly and she praised the police for noticeably doing a wonderful job in how they are dealing now with autism issues. Thank you! And we will miss Kenny!
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"Police are investigating the untimely death of Kenneth Woodd-Cahusac after the 61-year-old man’s body was found Thursday evening on the shoreline of the Mianus River.
Woodd-Cahusac, described as autistic by authorities, disappeared over the weekend and was the subject of repeated searches by police officers and a bloodhound after he was reported missing on Monday.
“The body was located in the shallows near a small private boat dock,” said Greenwich police spokesman Lt. Kraig Gray.
The location is a short distance from where Woodd-Cahusac lived on Cary Road in Riverside."
The Greenwich Police Department Dive Team, along with an investigator from the state Medical Examiner’s Office, retrieved the man’s body.
“The body was recovered safely and respectfully,” said police Capt. Robert Berry. A cause of death — whether by drowning, hypothermia or some other factor — was not released pending further study by the ME’s office.
The body has been positively identified as Woodd-Cahusac, who was partially deaf.
The title of this article does not pertain to Kenny. While Kenny was prone to wandering, he was very strict about remaining on sidewalks. He grew up right next to a pond throughout his entire childhood-early adulthood and preached water safety to every person who came to the house. This article makes it sound as if Kenny was unintelligent and incompetent, which is so far from the truth. He has lived and thrived on his own for 20+ years and the most intelligent man I have ever met.
Posted by: Paige Neary | March 22, 2017 at 10:24 AM
It would be an unusual accident as neighbors report that in 19 years of living on that street,Kenny did not go to the river.
Posted by: Ann Neary | March 20, 2017 at 06:33 PM
I don't know the area but around here in Scotland you have 2minutes to get out of the water before your brain starts to shut down the limbs etc and you start to stiffen up the body stops moving due to the cold.Poor man.Pharma for Prison.
MMR RIP
Posted by: Angus Files | March 20, 2017 at 12:19 PM
Since he could swim, sounds more like accident, maybe heart attack, or ... It is sad.
Posted by: Sun~Rose | March 20, 2017 at 09:08 AM