Jonathan Eichenholz was 3 years old when he was diagnosed with autism. His parents nicknamed him “Houdini” because of his propensity to escape from home, school and even his car seat while in traffic.
One afternoon when he was 5, Jonathan, who was fascinated with water, slipped out of the family’s Orange County home and into a neighbor’s yard.
The neighbor spotted the boy floating face down in his pool, let out a “bone chilling scream” and pulled Jonathan out, said Jason Eichenholz, the boy’s father.
Eichenholz raced over and found his son unconscious on the pool deck with ashen skin, blue lips and a distended belly. Eichenholz, a volunteer firefighter, was able to resuscitate him with CPR.
Children with autism are especially susceptible to the risk of drowning, as they tend both to wander away and to be attracted to water, experts say. That has led advocates to push for specialized swim lessons attuned to those kids’ situations, but much more needs to be done.
So far this year, 23 children with autism have died by drowning in Florida, including six in Central Florida, according to the Florida Department of Children and Families. Those deaths account for nearly 30% of the 81 such deaths reported in 2024 in Florida, which leads the nation in childhood drowning.