Police Learn How to Handle Autistics

Post Reply New Topic

Police learn to handle people with autism
By TINA KELLEY | The New York Times
January 14, 2008



BRICK TOWNSHIP, N.J. - An autistic boy is discovered standing in the middle of a busy road on his way to the beach. A young girl with autism outsmarts a number of locks, leaves the house before her mother wakes up and is found, naked but alive, in a neighbor's pool.

At a recent training for police officers here, both cases illustrated the often-delicate task of dealing with people who suffer from autism, a neurological disorder that often strikes in childhood and that impairs one's ability to communicate and to relate to others.

The officers were taught that turning off flashing lights and sirens on a police car could make the difference between a peaceful or chaotic encounter, and that if they asked someone with autism if they wanted to waive their rights, they might find that the person waved back at them.





People with developmental disabilities, including autism, have up to seven times as much contact with law enforcement officers as others, according to an article in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin in April 2001.

A co-author of the article, Dennis Debbaudt, who also is the author of Autism, Advocates and Law Enforcement Professionals, led the training. He noted that a 2007 study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that 1 in 150 children in New Jersey have received a diagnosis of autism, a rate 15 times higher than previous estimates and among the highest in the country.

But when Debbaudt asked whether any of the police officers, from departments throughout New Jersey, had received training on autism, either at police academies or on the job, only a few raised their hands.

The training, sponsored by Parents of Autistic Children, a nonprofit service group based in Hazlet, featured videos, lectures and the personal accounts of parents whose children have a form of autism. Among them were Debbaudt and Gary Weitzen, director of the parents' group, whose son was the one found in the middle of the road, headed for the beach.

Debbaudt told the officers that they should understand autism "for the safety of others, and so you can go home safe to your families, so you can make the best use of your time and resources, enhance your communication skills and avoid litigation."

He cited the case of Calvin Champion Jr., a 32-year-old man with autism who died in 2000 after Nashville, Tenn., police officers used pepper spray on him and subdued him. His family filed a federal lawsuit against the police and the social service agency caring for him, and was awarded $4.4 million.

Debbaudt said he had heard of six to 12 cases each year in which people with autism are harmed, hit with a stun gun or killed by law enforcement officials.

The officers were told to take plenty of time and be calm when interviewing autistic people. Some are crime victims, some are suspects, but the majority who come to the attention of the police have wandered away from their caregivers, often without an understanding of the dangers of traffic or open water, which often attracts them. In fact, drowning is a leading cause of death for people with autism, Debbaudt said.

People with autism may be very afraid of or very drawn to police dogs, Debbaudt said. They may be attracted to an officer's badge and try to grab it, and they may panic if their routines are broken, if their favorite objects are taken from them, or if surrounding sights, sounds and smells overwhelm them.
.

Copyright © 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/he ... 6166.story

Good to hear this. Let's hope the police take it on board.
It's sad that people have to die before anything gets done, though.

Yea they had a huge training course, brick is like 5minutes away from me also, it really is a good thing. It was soo funny, when i read that in the newspaper by me, it said one of the warning signs police have to look out for, is if a child is reaching for ur badge, it doesnt mean their harming u, just means their interested, and like the day before we were talking to cops, and i did exactly that lol .

Can autistic learn not to touch anything on the officers or even reach their hands and arms out. At least I know not to grab at them. I don't want any trouble so I always do what I'm told and keep my hands to myself, obey them.

On the front page of this board, there was an article by Kassiana Sibley, who has Rett's syndrome, which looks a lot like Asperger's but it also comes with seizures. She said "hey, the cops are more likely to kill someone like me than help me."

I keep that in mind constantly when I travel. The cops I know personally are really good people, but there are a lot of cops who could care less. And you gotta be real careful around them.

If they took Autistic training, I'd like to know how many of them said to themselves, "yeah, but I'm still gonna shoot first and ask questions of the corpse."

No, I'm not bitter, and I don't have anything against the cops. They've got a tough job. But you gotta be really careful.

Btdt

this is beautiful...

This is interesting; this is exactly the sort of thing I could see my son doing. He'd hear the word "waive", phonetically associate it with "wave", a word he knows, and take it as a request and wave, having not the slightest understanding of what he is actually being asked.


And this has actually happened to me; my son's not verbal, but he's quite a clever escape artist.

All said, I very much like the idea of police having some clue as to what autism is.

Good fortune,

- Icarus has had to nail many of the windows shut...

it is good to have the police have an idea of what autism is.

The non-profit adult service provider that I work for has taken responsibility for doing some law enforcement training in our area. It's a very good thing. Often people from our company are called in to help officers because we deal with people with disabilities all the time.

We've expanded the training to include the fire department, now. These public officials often represent stress to people on the spectrum and these are the people that will often meet us at obviously not our best. It is good for them to be trained in not only recognising that someone may be on the spectrum because that person may not behave in a manner that NTs think is logical, but it's also because we don't react to things the same way that NT people do when we are sensory overloaded.

I've seen officers think that stimming is because of meth use. I've seen officers think that the urge to reach out and touch something shiny is an agressive action. I've seen officers think that the inability to remain focused because of the inability to assess the situation is because of drug use or general non-compliance.

It's very sad when you see an autistic teenager lashing out and being agressive with the people that love him most and see officers try to subdue him by grabbing him and placing hand cuffs on him. Then the child hurts himself in an effort to get away from the awful sensory feeling that this gives.

More training is always a bonus. Perfect example of why we need the training. We approached a neighboring county's law enforcement about whether or not they thought autism training would be beneficial. Our girl who lived in the county had been called on several times to help officers because of people with different disabilities including ASDs. One officer wrote us back and said "What's autism training?" We sent that email to the captain and told him that that is exactly why they needed the training!

I have to say that the Anchorage Police have been VERY supportive of the Autism/AS community here.
They had a BIG meeting back in the fall with all the parents to ask our input on what we think would be helpful, they have trained their officers, and have a special "team" who they send out to help the other officers who are unsure as to how to proceed.
They have also implemented an affordable "Care-Track"system($250.00 set-up for the bracelet, and $25.00 a month for fresh batteries) for anyone interested.
And General Frasier has been extremely helpful in implementing training to the MP's here in Alaska also.
I'm lucky to live in such a supportive community, and wish everyone did.
Be an activist and bug the cops till they accept the fact they they have no clue how to deal with this situation, and that people can be hurt by their ineptness.