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Police in New Jersey Learn About Autism
By Richard | December 9, 2007
I wonder if they have this sort of workshop here in the county…
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Police learn about autism | Officers Taught To Recognize Disorder in Subjects
Tristan J. Schweiger | Toms River Bureau | Asbury Park Press
In responding to a typical scenario, police officers would be extremely wary of a person running toward them, who is not responding to verbal commands and may be reaching for their badges.
Their caution and tendency to act swiftly would be for good reason, too, as this is the kind of behavior they would see in someone under the influence of a drug, someone attempting to resist arrest or worse. But what if the person is autistic and means no harm?
Teaching law enforcement officials how to recognize and effectively communicate with people who have the developmental disorder was the subject of a workshop here Thursday.
The workshop was hosted by the nonprofit Parents of Autistic Children and by the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, and featured Dennis Debbaudt of South Florida, the father of a son with autism who travels around the country helping to train police officers in recognizing the disorder.
“We’re not asking you to field diagnose a child or adult who has autism. It wouldn’t be fair,” Debbaudt said at the afternoon session of the workshop. “But you’ll all walk out of here today with an idea of some of the sights and sounds associated with autism.”
The specific causes of autism remain a mystery, and it is a disorder that encompasses a wide spectrum of people, from those who can’t communicate verbally and have serious difficulty performing simple tasks, to people with a much higher level of function who may still have difficulty interacting with others.
Debbaudt said the main thread connecting the entire spectrum is impairment of social skills.
The workshop was attended by police officers from throughout the state, as well as parents and other professionals. Patrolman Don Newton of Highland Park said he could apply what he learned through this workshop and similar ones in multiple ways, both as an officer and as the father of a 5-year-old autistic child.
“It helps me just dealing with issues with my daughter,” Newton said.
Among the techniques Debbaudt discussed for officers dealing with someone they believe may be autistic were talking calmly and softly, speaking in direct, short phrases, and allowing for delayed responses in answering questions.
Current Centers of Disease Control and Prevention estimates show roughly 1 in 150 children have autism, and in New Jersey the rate is even higher, at 1 in 94, according to Parents of Autistic Children.
Melanie McGackin, 33, a mother of an autistic son and board member of the nonprofit group, said that makes training like the workshop even more important.
“Law enforcement, or whatever job you’re doing, everyone will come into contact with someone with autism,” McGackin said.
The workshop also discussed the possibility that police offers may have to help locate an autistic child who has wandered away from home, a behavior that is common in some with the disorder.
Bobbie Gallagher, 44, of Brick, who has two autistic teenagers, said her family once needed police help in locating her son, Austin.
“Austin eloped (wandered) once back when he was younger, and the police responded beautifully, within seconds. But we had to tell them, if you call him, he’s not going to respond,” said Gallagher, who wasn’t at the workshop but works as a special education consultant.
Gary Weitzen, president of the Hazlet-based Parents of Autistic Children, said he had a similar problem with his own son with the disorder. Like McGackin, Weitzen said training sessions are essential given the number of people with autism.
“There’s just a huge need,” Weitzen said. “My own son, when he was a young child, had a very big elopement issue — almost drowned once.”
Topics: In The News |
December 21st, 2007 at 12:28 pm
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