Experts say autism may have helped boy survive ordeal
By MARK HARPER
Staff Writer
For some autistic children, the sensation of water is as comforting as a blanket.
So what was Christopher Marino feeling during the 14 hours he was swept out to sea last weekend?
“He can’t tell me. I don’t know. I wish I did know,” his mother, Robyn Bishop of Oviedo, said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
Yet she said his autism — the brain development disorder that blocks Christopher from telling his mom what it was like to be all alone, drifting away from his dad in the dark — might well have helped save him.
And here is number two. Still amazing. My son loves to play in the water. Loves it. Loves to wash his hands, loves to let the water run over them. Loves bath time. It took us a while to realize that was one of his “things” but once we realized it, it made total sense.
