12 yr old autistic boy badly sunburned during daycare outing, Dad is pissed!

[Jessiesgirl1108]

Twelve-year-old Devin Garris is still bandaged and bright red six days after he was sunburned on a field trip with his day care.

Devin, who suffers from ADHD and a mild form of autism, visited an outdoor fountain in Duluth under the supervision of Kids Stay and Play day care located in Roswell.

“It felt excruciatingly painful … it’s indescribable,” Devin said.

Devin’s father, Grant Garris, took pictures that showed the burn and blisters two days after the trip. Some pictures were so graphic that Channel 2 Action News decided not to show them.

Grant said the staff at Kids Stay and Play never put sunscreen on Devin even though he was in the sun at the fountain between 2 and 2 1/2 hours.

“They should not be in business because they are neglecting children,” said Garris.

Garris said Kids Stay and Play told him that Devin refused to put on sun screen or wear a T-shirt. But Garris said it was up to the day care to make sure Devin was protected especially because of his disability.

“They are the adults in the situation … that is the reason they are care providers, to provide that care for my child, and they neglected that,” said Garris.

No one from Kids Stay and Play would talk to Channel 2 Action News reporter Diana Davis on camera, but a manager told Davis that staff members saw Devin put on sunscreen at least twice. Kids Stay and Play also said no other child on the trip was burned. Devin’s dad says that doesn’t matter.

Davis asked Devin what he had to say about the day care’s claim that the staff saw him put on sun screen.

Davis: Is that the truth or is that a lie?

Devin: That is not true.

Devin’s dad said his son should never have had a choice.

“Either put on the sunscreen or you are not going to play in the water. Put a T- shirt on or you are going to have to sit out,” said Garris.

Garris said he has asked the state to investigate Kids Stay and Play and also said he plans to sue.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/23771774/detail.html
Slideshow of burns:
http://www.wsbtv.com/slideshow/23771...l.html?taf=atl

[TheMeaningOfItAll]

If those idiots don't know how to get a kid to wear sunblock, they shouldn't be working there. The dad is perfectly correct to be so upset. If it had been the father who didn't put sunblock on and ultimately burned the child, the daycare would have been bound to call CPS. How infuriating that they were too fucking lazy to do their job and now the poor kid is going to suffer. I hope the dad follows through on this and takes it as far as he can.

[ineedanap]

In my state, I had to sign a medication form for my dd at daycare. I had to specify they are to use sunscreen as needed for outdoor play, and I provided the sunscreen. I have to sign a med form every year. I know that other states are different, and don't have the same requirements of caregivers.

I don't have enough info on this case to lay blame with anyone just yet, although I will says the 12 year old who is autistic is certainly well spoken. Autism doesn't necessarily translate to learning disabled or retarded, so I am thinking he should be capable of using sunscreen on his own.

[Alf]

I have to wonder if Devin is taking any kind of medication that makes him unusually sensitive to ultraviolet radiation -- and if his parents informed the day care of that fact. I know that as a result of my blood pressure medication I have to take extra care in the sun.

--Al

[Jessiesgirl1108]

I don't have enough info on this case to lay blame with anyone just yet, although I will says the 12 year old who is autistic is certainly well spoken. Autism doesn't necessarily translate to learning disabled or retarded, so I am thinking he should be capable of using sunscreen on his own.

While I agree that the 12 yr old should be capable of using sunscreen on his own, I still believe that it is the daycare's responsiblitiy to make sure that he does it. How many kids say they'll do something and don't? The daycare should have stood there and watched him put it on if they weren't going to put it on him themselves.

[penelopejo]

While I agree that the 12 yr old should be capable of using sunscreen on his own, I still believe that it is the daycare's responsiblitiy to make sure that he does it. How many kids say they'll do something and don't? The daycare should have stood there and watched him put it on if they weren't going to put it on him themselves.

It's not their responsibility to put sunscreen on the children. Many daycares will not do it for fear of it being called sexual abuse. Many daycares also state in their manuals "children play outside on a daily basis, it is your duty to apply sunscreen to your child."

His parents knew he was going to a field trip, why didn't his dad put sunscreen on him?

[Jessiesgirl1108]

It's not their responsibility to put sunscreen on the children. Many daycares will not do it for fear of it being called sexual abuse. Many daycares also state in their manuals "children play outside on a daily basis, it is your duty to apply sunscreen to your child."

His parents knew he was going to a field trip, why didn't his dad put sunscreen on him?

If his father knew he was going on a field trip, then yeah maybe he should have made sure he had sunscreen on his child before he sent him. I'm more looking at this situation if it were to happen to one of my children. I send them to daycare at 7:30 in the morning. They sometimes go outside to play in the afternoon while waiting for parents to pick them up, usually after 3 in the afternoon. Am I, as a parent supposed to lather my kids up with sunscreen at 7 in the morning just in case the whether is nice enough for them to go out and play that day? I think the daycare should have some responsibility to make sure the kids in their care are protected. If a child at my kids daycare forgot his lunch that day, they will supply him with something to eat cause they care enough about the kids to want them to be taken care of. This daycare should have cared enough about the kids they were getting paid to watch to want to ensure their safety. I guess it kind of depends on the circumstances surrounding this particular instance, but I would hope that if I am paying a daycare to care for my kids that they would actually care for them, even if that means doubling up on the sunscreen I already put on them to be sure they are protected.

[MC30]

i find it odd that he was the only one to get a sunburn.

[Misskittychaos]

When I went to day care and summer camp, you wore sun screen or no playing. If we put it on ourselves we had to see a counselor or teacher to check off. Actually the colored zinc cream was super popular so we painted our faces with it. Later on when I worked at camps and childcare programs we were required to apply sun screen on the kids. With the spray on sun screen there is no real need to have to physically apply it anymore.

Given my husband and my sensitivity to sun our future kids wont be going anywhere that sunscreen isn't insisted upon.

[CiaraLuna]

I have to wonder if Devin is taking any kind of medication that makes him unusually sensitive to ultraviolet radiation -- and if his parents informed the day care of that fact. I know that as a result of my blood pressure medication I have to take extra care in the sun.

--Al

I wonder too. They said that he had ADHD. My little brother has/had ADHD as a child (he has seemed to outgrow it) and the medication he was on made him extremely sensitive to the sun. He would get physically ill if he was in the sun too long. He got migraines and nausea, from 8 yrs old until he stopped his medication at 14 yrs. He is also a very fair skinned redhead, so he always had to wear 70+ SPF and still would burn! Now that he is an adult, he obviously takes care of himself but still has to wear 70+ SPF or suffer with sunburn.
I agree with some other of the posters, it is partially the parent's fault for not specifying that they apply sunscreen to their child. If it were my son, I would have applied it in the am, and sent the bottle and left written instructions for the day care workers to re-apply as needed.
I do however think that the day care workers should have noticed that the kid was getting burnt. They should at least keep the spray sunscreen on hand just in case. They wouldn't even have to touch the kid, just spray the exposed skin...thus totally avoiding the "sexual abuse" issue of rubbing lotion on a kid.

[Alf]

i find it odd that he was the only one to get a sunburn.

That was one of the reasons I was wondering about meds. I see that CiaraLuna has weighed in with family experience.

--Al

[Ravyn1965]

My son is autistic and was briefly put on Respirdol a couple of years back (we opted to take him off of it because it made him lethargic). The medication came with a warning label that stressed to be extremely cautious with sun exposure, as it could lead to severe sunburn.

[OMalley]

Wow - that's a bad burn. You'd think the daycare staff would've noticed the kid was burning.

[Knighted]

Mid-70's I fell asleep on the beach with my arms above my head, no sun-screen (and I'm fairly light skinned). It was nobody's fault but mine (I was 13-14 or so)

I was burnt BADLY. Tried every remedy you could think of an nothing worked. It was a week of agony. No sleep. Throwing up. My armpits were the worst.

About two weeks later, back at home, walking down the street - got really HOT, light-headed. Pulled my shirt off and my entire chest was one big WATER BLISTER. Peeled the skin off like a sheet and was dripping wet. That was the end of it. To this day I do NOT venture into the sun.

[Obsolete]

I dont know, Dad says the kid shouldn't have had the choice but you know as soon as a teacher forces a kid to put on sunscreen there will be an outraged parent claiming their childs rights were impeded or some shit like that. Same thing goes for if the kids was denied the trip and forced to stay behind.

My kids were never in daycare but my sisters kids were and the school made my sister come to the daycare on her lunch break to apply cream to her daughters skin after she had a bad burn (campfire not sun) because the school was prohibited from applying lotions or creams.

I agree that dad should have applied the sunscreen before the kid left. A fieldtrip usually needs a signed consent form signed so I'm pretty sure dad would have known where they were going.

I feel for the kid but I also feel as though the daycare was damned if they did and damned if they didnt.

[MadmamainNC]

In my state, I had to sign a medication form for my dd at daycare. I had to specify they are to use sunscreen as needed for outdoor play, and I provided the sunscreen. I have to sign a med form every year. I know that other states are different, and don't have the same requirements of caregivers.

I don't have enough info on this case to lay blame with anyone just yet, although I will says the 12 year old who is autistic is certainly well spoken. Autism doesn't necessarily translate to learning disabled or retarded, so I am thinking he should be capable of using sunscreen on his own.

Even the Elementary School here requires in the beginning of the year that parents provide sunscreen for their children and the kids must use it.
On days where they have outside activities like Field Day, we put it on my granddaughter before she goes to school which makes her mad because she has to reapply before they participate. But we just want to make sure she has it on and it does last a good while.
Best thing to do, if you know your kid is heading to the pool that day or spending all day outside on a Field Trip -lather them up yourselves before sending them off.

[rileesmom]

My 2yr old goes to school and we have to provide sunscreen for our kids if we want them to have it, and we sign a med sheet for the sunscreen giving them permisin to apply it to our kids as needed.

[Isa Bunneh]

My best friends son has autism and so does my daughter. Completely different. He can say some mayjah words, but doesn't know how to chew a piece of gum correctly. My daughter can tell time, but she has trouble communicating. They are both 9yrs old. So it could be like that with this child.

[bogustoo]

It's not their responsibility to put sunscreen on the children. Many daycares will not do it for fear of it being called sexual abuse. Many daycares also state in their manuals "children play outside on a daily basis, it is your duty to apply sunscreen to your child."

His parents knew he was going to a field trip, why didn't his dad put sunscreen on him?

Penelope, I think the difference is that this day care caters to children with autism.

My little guy has Asperger's, which is what I'm presuming the article is referring to when it states "mild form of autism". Children with mild forms of autism, or any form for that matter, need clear, concise rules to obey. They are happiest when they are obeying the rules and know what is expected of them in advance and can't handle when other children don't. That's just one of the many issues of autism.

That being said, to me it appears clear that there were no rules laid out at this day care. If there were, all of the children would have been wearing sunblock.

I can't completely blame the father for this either. We don't know what time he dropped his son off at the day care. (My little guy goes at 7:00 AM.) If he put sunblock on his son and dropped him off at day care around 7:00 and the school didn't leave for the trip until 9:00 AM, the sunblock wouldn't be so effective. For all we know, the child could have sweated it off before they even left. So I can't say for sure that the father didn't put sunblock on his child.

What bothers me more than not having sunblock on this child is the fact that nobody noticed his sunburn while on the trip. As a frequent sufferer of sunburn when I was a child, I know how red skin gets well before blisters have the opportunity to form. Why wasn't this child taken out of the sun at that point? Did not one single person either notice or care? That shows neglect.

[akika666]

What bothers me more than not having sunblock on this child is the fact that nobody noticed his sunburn while on the trip. As a frequent sufferer of sunburn when I was a child, I know how red skin gets well before blisters have the opportunity to form. Why wasn't this child taken out of the sun at that point? Did not one single person either notice or care? That shows neglect.

sometimes it takes hours to show up. you can't rely on the appearance of "pink" skin, in my experience. for example, i went on a beach field trip with my daughter yesterday. i am very competent and responsible at applying sunblock to my children. they don't get sunburns, but i always get distracted by the time i've done them, and either forget, or do a lousy job at applying my own sunblock. yesterday i fried the back of my left arm and left shoulder BADLY. yeah, my skin looked pink, but it was beastly hot by 1pm and i was pink all over, by the time i was able to extract her off the beach.

the discomfort and burn-y feeling, along with the visibly burned pink areas, didn't become apparent to me till after dinner. by the time i was finally able to sleep, almost 10 hours after i'd been indoors, it had become angry red and blistered.

it sucks hard, by the way. i have much empathy for this poor child right now. they have to have sunblock on, applied or at least verified by a responsible adult, or just not be able to be in the sun. the daycare should've made sure of it.

[CharlieRose]

1995- I was 12 and on an out of state school trip to Orlando. When we stopped at a water park for the day the chaperones told us to put on our sunscreen and most of us said we did. Not one of us actually did. No one checked us. The trip ended with a bunch of second degree sun burnt girls riding a charter bus for ten hours. It was hell. I had ADHD at the time and I took full responsibility for my actions. I do think that since the day care caters to LD/BD or OHI children then they should be trained to deal with these kind of situations. I'm siding with the dad on this one. (Also, while in college I worked in a private learning center and we were required to spray sunscreen on the children unless told otherwise by the parents. If the parents didn't want sunscreen on their child then they would have to sign a waiver stating so, if not the child simply had to stay indoors)