Bad sensory overload attack when approached by policeman

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Bearsac-Debra
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14 Aug 2010, 9:38 am

Bearsac was telling people on the tube about his website and my book Travels with My Teddy Bear (Travelogues of a woman with Asperger's Syndrome with Her Teddy Bear). I didn't believe a plain clothed policeman was a police officer as he looked so young - even with his cop stuff. I freaked out when he touched my arm and due to the sounds appaering louder and louder because of my stress. I had to close my eyes on the escalator with the cop and underground staff either side of me.

Calmer in the control room I was warned not to advertise on the underground. Did a little video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWG8SnVFWIs

Anyone one else reacted in an typical Aspie way with police?


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Last edited by Bearsac-Debra on 14 Aug 2010, 9:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

Peko
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14 Aug 2010, 9:43 am

Last time I was around cops I was being fingerprinted for a name change on my birthday. I just didn't talk/make much eye contact, answered the questions, etc. Though it was kinda nerve wracking/funny cause at one point the officer who was taking my prints got called out of the cellblock I was in to get a key out of a prisoner's cuff & than another cop was trying to joke with me (I just smiled lightly) b/c the printer for my prints broke... like twice :roll: 8O. With cops I'd say keep calm & try to limit facial expressions.


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ZachL
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14 Aug 2010, 9:46 am

You should tell them about being on the spectrum when you first make contact.


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PunkyKat
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14 Aug 2010, 9:48 am

The only encounters I have had with police officers are my father and my best friend's father. My father stopped "cop-ing" before I was born becuase he got scared and I've never had any negetive expirences with my best friend's father. But I do worry that someday a cop with an attidute looking for an ego trip will try and take advantage of my "weirdness". If they touched me I would freak out from sensory overload and OCD and attack.


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pschristmas
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14 Aug 2010, 10:00 am

I get very nervous, but fortunately have only rarely had police be anything but extremely formal and polite with me. They have never tried to touch me, thank goodness, or I likely would have reacted strongly or at least frozen in place.



DemonAbyss10
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14 Aug 2010, 10:47 am

doesnt matter if its a police officer or not, if someone touches me I freak the hell out. And yeh it is a sensory thing for me. The worst that happened was someone bumping me in the halls back when I was still in school and I knocked the person out via a fist to the head. :/


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just-lou
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14 Aug 2010, 10:48 am

I'm around cops every day. I find it easy, as the rank structure rather informs what sort of behavior is expected. I also know cops are trained to deal with all kinds of people, and the vast majority of people that attract a cop's notice are not-quite-ordinary for many reasons. They should be observant enough to recognize the traits of some kind of "not normal" response and adjust their behaviour. They're generally good at that - altering their approach to suit the situation.
Most cops are okay, in my experience. They're generally in the job for the right reasons and want to help. I assume authiroty figures can be intimidating for some aspies, and you certainly get your idiots in the job like any other, but they're usually cut down by their own superiors before they can inflict too much inconvenience on the public.
Funny you comment on him being very young. The average age for a rookie is between 18-20.



ZachL
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14 Aug 2010, 10:57 am

just-lou wrote:
I'm around cops every day. I find it easy, as the rank structure rather informs what sort of behavior is expected. I also know cops are trained to deal with all kinds of people, and the vast majority of people that attract a cop's notice are not-quite-ordinary for many reasons. They should be observant enough to recognize the traits of some kind of "not normal" response and adjust their behaviour. They're generally good at that - altering their approach to suit the situation.
Most cops are okay, in my experience. They're generally in the job for the right reasons and want to help. I assume authiroty figures can be intimidating for some aspies, and you certainly get your idiots in the job like any other, but they're usually cut down by their own superiors before they can inflict too much inconvenience on the public.
Funny you comment on him being very young. The average age for a rookie is between 18-20.


I also deal with cops quite routinely and most are quite sensitive to the needs of people with disabilities. I just had to talk to some detectives last week because someone said i looked like a guy that stole some from a local store. There were nice and the talk lasted less then a minute


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League_Girl
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14 Aug 2010, 11:36 am

My aspie friend has a friend who is a cop and he tried hitting on her and stuff but then he found out she has a boyfriend. I think he knows other people who are cops and they spend their time busting drunken college students. He loves cops and talks about them sometimes. He even likes CHIPS. He even wanted to be a police officer but found out he was unable to be one because of what kind of training they go through and his disability keeps him doing doing that stuff like running. So there went his dream job. But he works as a dishwasher person at a restaurant.



devark
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14 Aug 2010, 12:12 pm

I was pulled over once for speeding and the officer, suspecting that i had been drinking (which of course I hadn't), asked me to recite the alphabet backwards. I told her that I couldn't do that because I only have it memorized forwards sequentially, so she then asked me to recite it forwards, but I was so anxious that I kept losing my place and messed it up 3 times! I then tried to explain to her that I was just anxious and tired, and that police have always made me nervous. She then asked me a few questions about where I was and were I was going, and then was kind enough to let me go with a warning.

Too much sensory stimulation makes me shut down. The light in my eyes, the cruiser lights in my mirror with the spotlight, along with the questions were just too much.


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