Quebec boy with autism smothered while restrained in class
June 20th, 2008
From the Montreal Gazette, Toronto Star,
A Quebec coroner’s report into the case of 9-year-old Gabriel Poirer, who died in his classroom in the Montreal area, concluded that the boy had smothered when teachers tried to restrain him with a weighted blanket.
The boy was wrapped in a heavy blanket and left on his stomach, his head completely covered, for more than 20 minutes. The coroner’s report said teachers had received training in using weighted blankets, but had not followed the rules on the day the boy died.
The coroner recommended stiffer safety guidelines concerning the weighted blankets, which often contain ball bearings or buckwheat seeds.
(Montreal Gazette photo)


