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Helping First Responders to Understand and Assist Individuals with Autism in Emergency Situations
Children and adults with autism engage in many challenging behaviors, many of which pose safety concerns. These concerns can increase the likelihood they will interface with police officers and other first responders. In fact, individuals with autism are seven times more likely to encounter the...
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Both Individuals with Autism and Law Enforcement Benefit from Training
Children and adults with autism, like others, may in their childhood or adulthood experience encounters with law enforcement. This may occur when the child/adult with autism discloses abuse or their abuse is witnessed or suspected and reported for investigation. At this sensitive point in their...
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Autism, Law Enforcement and Disclosure: Advice from Twenty Years in the Training Room
Advice for the autism community from law enforcement professionals at training sessions over the past twenty years in training facilities throughout the US, Canada and elsewhere is very consistent: accurate autism information, even when generic in nature, will inform their response. Information...
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Pathways to Justice: Beyond Crisis De-Escalation Training
A persistent and much-debated question for criminal justice professionals has been the treatment of individuals with developmental disabilities as criminal defendants, as victims of crime, and as witnesses of crime. Issues arise from the moment of contact with a first responder. Since the...
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Interacting Safely with Police: Crucial Skills for Individuals Across the Spectrum
Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often have a long list of safety concerns, no matter the age of their children. Parents need to focus on creating a secure home environment, preventing wandering and teaching water safety. Yet there is another critical area of need that...
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Managing Challenging Behavior Due to Autism During Emergencies: Advice for First Responders
First responders are by definition available and on call twenty-four hours a day to provide emergency services ranging from medical to safety and protection needs. In most cases these encounters are brief, intense and are paired with stressful episodes including medical emergency, fire or other...
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Walking the Safety Tightrope: The Intersection of Law Enforcement and Loved Ones with Disability
The incidence of persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder has increased 4,000 percent over recent decades throughout the world. The chances of law enforcement encountering a person with a disability is 7 times more likely to happen compared to the general population. For those empowered to serve and...
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How the AANE Wallet Disclosure Card Turned Around an Unfortunate Situation
K is a 32 year old adult with Asperger Syndrome (AS), has been a member of the Asperger’s Association of New England (AANE) for about eighteen months. He participates in one of our weekly adult discussion/support groups, attended our adult summer conference (“Know Yourself: The Key to a Better...
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Autism Training for First Responders: A Lesson in Safety
The public asks a tremendous amount from our first responders. As we run away from danger, they are the ones who run in. Without hesitation they put themselves in the line of danger every day, and we as a society are forever grateful for their dedication to our welfare and to their potential...
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How Authorities Interact and Respond to Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
There is a great deal of debate surrounding the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders in the United States. One recent federal survey indicates that at least 1 in every 150 people in the United States will be affected by an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Whatever the frequency of occurrence may be,...
