Seizure Led to FloJo's DeathAutopsy: Olympic sprint champion suffocated in

bedding after having epileptic event in her sleep.

October 23, 1998|JEFF GOTTLIEB | TIMES STAFF WRITER

Olympic sprint champion Florence Griffith Joyner

died after suffering an epileptic seizure, according

to autopsy results released Thursday, and her

family and friends say they hope the findings will

put to rest rumors that drug use contributed to

her death. Griffith Joyner died last month in her

sleep at age 38.

Her husband, Al Joyner, bitterly criticized those

who suggested that she took performance-

enhancing drugs.

"My wife took the final, ultimate drug test," Joyner

said, choking back tears during a brief news

conference after the release of the autopsy. "And

it's what we always said: There's nothing there. So

please, please, give us time to grieve and just let

my wife rest in peace."

For the Record

Los Angeles Times Tuesday October 27, 1998

Home Edition Sports Part D Page 2 Sports Desk 2

inches; 52 words Type of Material: Correction

Olympics--Florence Griffith Joyner, who died last

month, was one of two women to have won four

medals in track and field in the same Olympics.

Fanny Blankers-Koen of Holland won the 100- and

200-meter sprints, the 80-meter hurdles and

anchored the victorious 400 relay team in the

1948 Olympics in London. Griffith Joyner was

identified as the only four-medal winner Friday.

The Orange County Sheriff-Coroner's office found

that the only drugs in her system when she died

were small amounts of the over-the-counter

painkiller acetominophen and the antihistamine

Benadryl, which is sometimes used as a mild

sedative.

Griffith Joyner's epileptic seizure lasted from

minutes to less than hour, said Dr. Richard I.

Fukumoto, the county's chief forensic pathologist.

Such seizures rarely lead to death, medical experts

noted. In Griffith Joyner's case, the seizure

apparently caused her to be suffocated by her

bedding.

Griffith Joyner was one of 25% of the population

to have a congenital weakness of a blood vessel in

the brain, called cavernous angioma, said Dr.

Barbara Zaias, a forensic neuropathologist with

the coroner's office. She said 10% to 15% of those

people suffer from seizures.

In most instances, though, the condition doesn't

cause problems, and many people live their lives

unaware of it. Other times it may cause headaches,

bleeding or seizures, Zaias said.

Fukumoto said he knew of nothing in the medical

literature that showed this condition could be

brought on by using performance-enhancing

drugs, such as steroids.

Charles Yesalis, an expert on performance-

enhancing drugs at Penn State, said the autopsy

would not definitively show whether Griffith

Joyner ever used steroids or human growth

hormone. The most long-lasting steroids leave the

body within a year, he said, and Griffith Joyner

retired from competition nearly a decade ago.

Griffith Joyner had suffered a seizure previously,

during a flight from Los Angeles to St. Louis in

1996, and she was hospitalized briefly. After her

death, her brother said it was the result of stress.

On Thursday, the Joyner family and coroner's

doctors declined to take questions about the

athlete's medical history.

Zaias said a cavernous angioma might show up

during sophisticated imaging tests, such as an MRI

or a CTI, but even then it might stay hidden.

The day she died, Griffith Joyner's husband called

paramedics from their Mission Viejo home at

about 6:30 a.m. and said his wife was not

breathing. Joyner told investigators when he had

last checked on his wife at 1 a.m. she was sleeping.

Coroner's office officials said Griffith Joyner had a

healthy heart.

Griffith Joyner died almost 10 years after winning

the 100-meter gold medal, the first of three she

won in the 1988 Olympics.

She later won the 200 meters and was a member

of the teams that won the 400-meter relay and

came in second in the 1,600-meter relay. She

became the first woman to win four medals in

track at one Olympics and still holds the world

record in the 100--10.49 seconds.

Because of her muscular build and dominance of

the sport, Griffith Joyner came under suspicion for

using steroids or human growth hormones, but

she never failed a drug test. The Olympic

champion credited her success to a new diet and

extensive weightlifting.

Bill Hybl, president of the U.S. Olympic Committee,

issued a statement in support of Griffith Joyner

after release of the autopsy results. "We now hope

that this great Olympic champion, wife and

mother can rest in peace, and that her millions of

admirers around the world will celebrate her

legacy to sport and children every day," Hybl said.

"It is time for the whispers and dark allegations to

cease."

The events that caused Griffith Joyner's death

started with the cavernous angioma in the portion

of the brain called the cortex, above the left eye,

which developed while she was a fetus, Zaias said.

The cortex is the portion of the brain associated

with language, speech and cognitive processes.

The condition meant that within an oval of about

an inch there were several empty spaces that

filled with blood, Zaias said.

The angioma irritated brain cells, causing nerves

to misfire and bringing on at least one seizure.

Because she was sleeping face down, the seizure

would have caused her head to turn to the right,

which, combined with her getting caught in the

bedding, obstructed her air passageway and

caused her to suffocate.

Fukumoto said if someone is is suffering a seizure,

you should try to keep their airway open and "let

the person go through the seizure activity."

About 2.5 million people in the United States have

epilepsy, a term that covers a spectrum of

neurological disorders characterized by recurring

seizures.

The seizures range from so mild they are hardly

detectable to grand mal episodes in which muscles

forcefully contract and the body goes rigid.

http://articles.latimes.com/1998/oct/23/sports/sp-35391/2

For Autistic Children, a School’s Coffee Shop Imparts Skills While Raising Money

By WINNIE HU

Published: February 18, 2011

EDISON, N.J. — The coffee shop at Woodrow Wilson Middle School is serious about service with a smile.

When Edward Lin, a seventh grader, stared silently at his feet the other day instead of greeting a customer,

his teacher prodded him.

“How can I help you?” the boy mumbled, still staring at his feet.

His teacher prodded him again. Edward looked up. Then he wrote out the customer’s order and, finally, broke

into a smile, braces and all.

Edward is in a special class for children with autism or multiple learning disabilities that is charged with

running the coffee shop every Friday morning. Setting up in the home economics room, Edward and 11

classmates have rung up more than $1,000 in sales of coffee, tea, doughnuts, cookies and cupcakes to the

school’s staff since October. On request, they deliver to classrooms.

The coffee shop was the idea of their teacher, Thomas Macchiaverna, 26, who saw it as a means to instill not

only social niceties in children who often have difficulty with human interaction, but also business acumen

and life skills beyond the classroom. “The overall goal here is to make these kids functional members of

society,” he said. “It’s a different avenue than the standard educational curriculum. It’s outside the box, which

you have to be with this kind of program.”

The profits from the coffee sales — averaging $100 a week — have helped pay for things like a recent bowling

trip and a Thanksgiving feast for the class; as part of cost-cutting this year, the Edison district eliminated

money for field trips.

The Edison coffee shop illustrates how schools across New Jersey are finding ways to expand their special

education programs and services outside the traditional classroom to better serve students with autism and

severe learning disabilities, many of whom were once sent out of the district to costly, specialized programs.

At Northern Burlington Regional High School in Columbus, special education students run their own auto-

detailing shop on site, cleaning dozens of cars a year owned by parents and school staff. And along the Jersey

Shore, students with autism at Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin started their own ice cream

business and opened a gardening center where they grow plants and vegetables to sell; in the past three

years, they have earned about $10,000 to support activities.

But such efforts have fallen short in other schools, prompting Gov. Chris Christie last month to propose as an

alternative the creation across the state of more public schools devoted to students with autism, to ease the

financial pressure on districts and to ensure quality of instruction.

Statewide, as diagnoses for autism spectrum disorders have risen, the overall number of special education

students has increased 3.5 percent to 199,207 since 2008, while out-of-district placements have increased by

1.5 percent to 14,615 during that same period, according to state statistics.

In Edison, 80 of the 850 students at Woodrow Wilson Middle School receive special education services. The

school started a self-contained special education class last year that now has a dozen students, all boys

between 11 and 13 years old. Academically, their reading and math skills range from first to seventh grade,

said Mr. Macchiaverna, who is called “Mr. Mac.”

The new coffee shop got off to a shaky start. The first day it opened, the machine was mistakenly unplugged,

and there was almost no coffee. The next week, the school had no drinkable tap water after a flood in the area,

but teachers saved the day by bringing jugs of bottled water from home. And then came the snow days and

delayed openings.

The coffee itself was once so dark that it got complaints. And one student spilled hot water on his leg and had

a mild burn, despite supervision by Mr. Macchiaverna, two assistant teachers, a speech teacher and a life-

skills teacher.

But since then, the coffee has improved and the students have settled into a comfortable routine.

On a recent Friday, the coffee shop opened for business with folksy music (think Cat Stevens) playing over

speakers. Teachers like to pass time there during their free periods, drawn as much by the convenience as the

friendly service. Fifteen have standing orders. Others donate the doughnuts and handmade pastries for sale.

“The teachers love it,” said Cori Jensen, a music teacher, with a $2 cup of tea in hand. “We wish we could have

it every day.”

The students take turns doing the various jobs in the coffee shop. Mr. Macchiaverna pointed out the lessons

built into each one. For instance, the students at the cash register use their math skills to make change, while

those delivering coffee learn to navigate the school.

And above all, he said, they practice people skills. Even here, customers can be demanding.

“I want a bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel,” said Michael Franciscus, the gym teacher, who orders off the

menu every week just to joke with the students.

“We don’t have any; we have coffee,” replied Norman Shamy, 12, looking perplexed.

“Irish coffee? Cafe latte?” Mr. Franciscus continued. He settled for a $1 cupcake.

“He’s funny,” said Norman, adding that the shop was his favorite part of school because, “I like talking to the

customers.”

Jenni Carlock, Noman’s stepmother, said that he looked forward to the coffee shop days. “It gives him

direction and teaches him leadership skills,” she said.

Patricia Cotoia, the school principal, is a coffee shop regular. “It’s not about the coffee or the cookies, it’s about

the interaction and seeing how capable the kids are,” said Ms. Cotoia, who will invite parents to the shop in

the spring.

“We may have to switch to iced coffee in May,” she said, “but we’ll get there.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/education/19autism.html?ref=specialeducationhandicapped&_r=0