Autism and the Police

Post Reply New Topic

Hello everybody,

How do you think we should raise awareness about Autism/Asperger's when dealing with law enforcement?

I posted a blog about it.

Feel free to have an open discussion on here or leave a comment on my blog.

http://dwarren57.wordpress.com/2011/08/ ... utistic-2/

It would be a good idea if such a campaign could be organized....except those here that would be most gung-ho to help are also the ones that are most likely to create a stereotype that spooks police into using even more force.

I feel that police officers here in Australia especially here in Brisbane Ferny Grove, should go through a course in knowing how to handle people with disabilities in a non harassing way instead of pulling out a tazer and using it against the person thinking they are a danger to people when they are not. They have to be abit more understanding, patient and supportive. I usually go around with a card that says I have Aspergers Syndrome and that Im easily spooked and I have a meltdown at a drop of a hat and have a fit. If I am walking down the street now and the police pull me up if they are just patroling they are very careful not to startle me and they greet me happy and start a normal conversation then they ask me for Identification and they talk to me about my interests and hobbies it makes the entire situation alot more comfortable and relaxing and then they say goodbye and I keep on going for my walk. I feel they should have a physcologist to come with the police if they are to visit you for whatever reason so theres no misunderstandings.

I always feel on the edge and paranoid because.....

...I am always by myself, and I feel like ever since incidents such as Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Norway, Police are looking out for that loner guy who might snap.

nice work!

The police have no clue how to spot those people and most mental health professionals don't either- including most school crisis counselors indoctrinated to be paranoid about it. Most psychological profiles currently being used are basically looking for Jared Loughner himself to turn up. It's unlikely that another one just like him will shoot someplace up. The weird loner is a myth because most shooters are perfectly capable of being charismatic when they want to be and had some sort of social life at the time of the shooting. In short, they didn't get noticed earlier because they blended in somewhere!

I have schizophrenia and AS. I've been sectioned by the police ("arrested" for being mentally disordered and dangerous in public, but not a criminal record per se, look at this link: "section 136 Mental Health Act" ).

All four times the policemen have shouted into my ears, manhandled me so roughly that I got scars and bruises from them, said unfair things to me and on one occasion they tied my legs together as well as the handcuffing I got all four times.

Although I do admit, I was very unwell at the time and was rather violent.

I made a formal complaint to the Metropolitan Police (I live in London, UK) after the last section 136 and I ended up with the sergeant that sectioned me coming to my house to apologise and make amends.

It ended up in the sergeant educating the whole of the Merton borough (the borough of London I live in) about autism.

So not all bad I guess.

But I agree, the police are crap with mental health, and even more crap with autism. I had a PCSO (Police Community Support Officer) and a policeman visit me in my house a few weeks ago to check how I am, and they didn't have even the slightest clue as to what autism is. I had to refer them to some online reading material....sigh.

I live in the East Anglia area of the UK and our local police forces have all started autism awareness training. There is an alert card you can pick up from them that you can show the police and it has their force logo on it and that the holder of the card is autistic. The officers are being trained to react appropriately when they see this card. I am very impressed with this scheme (although their website doesn't seem to work at the moment!). Maybe this is something that should be looked at in all parts of the UK and USA.

I think it might be an idea, but on a more general scale for disabilities. The problem with the police force is education, I've never been to a police academy but all the police officer's I've dealt with are not particularly intelligent, nor do they have great interpersonal skills. I've never had problems with them personally, but I've heard on incidents that make me wonder if they teach cadets anything except physical fitness.

_________________
http://defeatingthedoginthedaytime.blogspot.com/

the trials and tribulations of a girl pretending to be normal

I think part of it is also because of the parents who refuse to teach their Autistic children limits and boundaries. Like Adam Race who I posted about on my blog post. They think of Autism as an excuse to run wild.

I've written several letters to the Ventura County Sheriff's Dept here in Southern California, and to the Dallas P.D. regarding Autism and Asperger's, and the easy-to-mistake for guilty or drugged mannerisms. I think they're aware of the issues, but the problem is that the officers on the street are not doctors, and they're so accustomed to dealing with scumbags on drugs, or people acting shifty because they've really done something, that it's going to be hard to get proper understanding between the Autism community and law enforcement agencies. Same goes for the fire department and rescue. Not too long ago, I read about an autistic kid who was badly hurt when he fought a fireman trying to pull him out of a wrecked van. Fireman was also hurt, and the cause was that the fireman tried to tie a neck brace and restrain the boy. He got torn ligaments and way more injuries than the accident ever caused, and it was nobody's fault, I guess, because the fireman had no idea that you can't restrain an Autistic person without their cooperation and understanding.

The more of us who write about this issue, the better! Thank you for your part!! !

Charles

i agree with this. why can't those on the autism spectrum be taught to respect authority? if they have the ability to walk out in the public and find their way to the library then they can learn to follow social rules -- or pay the price.

its clear that understanding these signals from the police may be a little harder to learn for someone on the spectrum, especially for someone used to being an "independent thinker". so then they may have a little jail time in their future where they can contemplate this further.

and those who truly can't be taught this kind of stuff can't really be out in public on their own and need to be cared for by society. maybe its like getting your drivers license except its test for your social awareness.

I can't count how many parents of autistics I've met who have been accused of not disciplining their kids. Virtually all of them were actually doing the best they could, but their child did not understand what they wanted or was not always capable of obeying. Some autistics, especially those with very poor verbal skills, are basically undisciplinable - you can only manage their behavior rather than making them obey.

With regards to Adam Race, his parents claim that he never did a number of the behaviors he was accused of. I have noticed some people will fabricate or exaggerate behaviors so they don't seem like they're just saying 'I don't want autism cooties'. The same thing happens to non-autistics, too, such as Mark White (a hemophiliac with AIDS who was unjustly excluded from his school because they were afraid he'd transmit AIDS to classmates). It also happened to me as a child because my school assumed that a sexually abused child would be sexually aggressive. I'm not saying I know for sure whether Adam Race did the behaviors people claim he did, but it's certainly quite likely that things were made up or exaggerated by people who just did not want a nonverbal young man who acted strangely to be a part of their community.

All autistic people should be offered an autism alert card by their local government and all local police should at least be given a pamphlet on dealing with someone when they present such a card.

Simples!

but these are kids on the lower end of the spectrum who can't go out by themselves. thats a very big difference

I think the best way is to put police in an autistic support meeting for a few hours

Also they need to be exposed to a group of high functioning aspies who wouldnt normally attend support groups

Telling them about aspergers, would be like describing a zoo to a child, whereas taking said child to 'the zoo' would be far more productive in terms of recognising AS in the policed population

I dont think video images would be as effective as real life interactions. Cops meeting aspies would also humanise and validate us aspies, rather than a clinical, fear or wariness based approach.

I think the general population including police, is very misinformed, confused and ignorant of AS discrimination, and the effect of that discrimination.