HOUSTON – A little girl with Angelman syndrome wandered into White Oaks Bayou on Tuesday and drowned.
People with Angelman syndrome are commonly attracted to the water. Now a group of local mothers is begging for your help keeping those with the syndrome away from water.
It's an expensive and difficult task trying to keep someone with Angelman syndrome in one place.
"She has severe sleep issues, very hyperactive, very short attention span," Jennifer Auna said about her daughter Kyla.
Angelman syndrome is a genetic disorder with seizures, frequent laughter and severe intellectual and developmental disabilities.
These moms relate to zipping them in bed, keeping cameras on them and strapping them in car seats because they habitually wander and have no understanding of danger, especially around water.
"The water is a very calming thing for them. Maybe it sort of makes contact with their skin so it's a very soothing; maybe (it's a) sensory thing," Auna said. "A lot of them don't have street smarts with water and they require 24/7 supervision."
After a tragedy this week in their small Angelman community, the parents want your help protecting these kids.
"If you see something that's out of the ordinary, you see a child roaming by themselves at all hours, half-clothed, even if you see an adult," Tara Clem, mother of a 24-year-old with Angelman syndrome. "Stay with them, take the time to do that because it could save a life."
"We just want to make sure everything's going to be OK with our kids when they grow up so please stop and ask if you see something out of the ordinary," Soledad Lara said.
Lara just put a device on her daughter called "angelsense" that's designed to keep track of people with Angelman syndrome.
