Autistic 4-year-old dies after ‘rehab’ center makes him walk 19 km

The mother of an autistic child who died on April 27 after a Guangzhou "rehabilitation" center made him walk 19 kilometers in heavy clothing has vowed to sue the institution.



Liaoning Province resident Zhang Wei told the Information Times on Tuesday that she will file a lawsuit against the Guangzhou autism rehabilitation center "Tiandao Zhengqi" as her 4-year-old son Jia Jia died after finishing a 19-kilometer walk, which Tiandao claimed was part of its "brand new and isolated [form of] rehabilitation training."



The institution is not registered with the Guangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau. The Guangzhou Disabled Persons' Federation said private rehabilitation firms do not have any industry regulators yet.



Zhang said that she was told by the rehabilitation center on April 27 about Jia Jia's death at a nearby hospital. Zhang came to the institution the next day, finding that her son had gotten up at 6 am as usual, walked 19 kilometers, and went to sleep at around 6 pm.



At 9:30 pm, Zhang received a phone call from the institution saying that Jia Jia had a fever. One minute later, the facility said that they had called an ambulance.



According to Zhang, she brought her son to the facility in March after reading about the facility in a book on "rehabilitating" children with autism and paid 31,200 yuan ($4,799) for her son's three-month course. At the facility, Jia Jia was required to wear heavy clothes and walk around 20 kilometers every day. He was not allowed to eat any processed food, only vegetables, rice and a few fruits.





