The death of 7-year-old Abdinasir Maow Gedi highlights gaps in medical response and communication.
When 7-year-old Abdinasir Maow Gedi collapsed in his St. Cloud classroom this month, the response came too late to save him. The Somali American second-grader, who was autistic, died days later in a Minneapolis hospital. His family is now demanding answers—not only about what went wrong that morning, but about whether Minnesota schools are truly prepared to protect children with developmental disabilities in life-or-death emergencies.
The questions are urgent. Nearly one in 36 American children is diagnosed with autism, according to the CDC, and many face elevated risks in crises—wandering into dangerous areas, having undetected seizures, or being unable to communicate distress. In Minnesota, Somali families in particular have sounded alarms for years about the need for stronger safeguards.
This is not the first time the Somali community has buried a child under painful circumstances. Last year, 11-year-old Mohamed Mohamed drowned in an Eden Prairie pond after slipping away from home. That same summer, 4-year-old Waeys Ali Mohamed drowned in Minnehaha Creek. Both boys were autistic and nonverbal.
“These deaths are not isolated tragedies,” said Imam Abdinour Reshid of the Iqra Education Center in St. Cloud. “They reveal a system that is failing children who need the most protection.”
Advocates point to two recurring issues: emergency preparedness and communication with families. In Abdinasir’s case, relatives said police—not school staff—were the first to notify them of his condition. “That gap is devastating,” said Fartun Osman, director of a Somali autism support group in Minneapolis. “When a child is vulnerable, parents need to know immediately what is happening.”
Experts say schools often lack both the staff training and medical protocols to respond effectively. “You need teachers and aides who know how to recognize seizures, how to call for help quickly, how to comfort a child who cannot speak,” said Dr. Eric Larsson, a Minnesota autism researcher. “Without that, you’re always one step behind.”
District officials in St. Cloud have said little beyond expressing sorrow, citing privacy laws. But the silence has fueled mistrust in a community already skeptical of institutions. “Transparency is the only way forward,” said Hassan Gurhan, Abdinasir’s uncle. “If we don’t know what went wrong, how can we prevent it from happening again?”
For Somali parents, the tragedy reopens deeper anxieties. Many came to Minnesota seeking stability and opportunity. Instead, they are now grappling with whether schools can keep their children safe.
The stakes go beyond one family’s grief. If Abdinasir’s death prompts changes—in training, in communication, in accountability—it could mean fewer Somali families, and fewer families of autistic children, will face the same unbearable questions in the future.
