Comments on: Autism and the police – I am frightened

By: MWalker

MWalker — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 18:12:32 +0000

Excellent! My son is grown (has ASD) and has been involved in a complex situation which involves police beating him so badly he was in the ER for 7 hours. He was illegally stopped for speeding when ordered out of a public place then followed just because the police wanted to arrest hm. Everything about the stop was illegal, the Courts defend the police. The cop had him put his hands on the car then grabbed his testicles. After doing that the “back up” arrived that was possibly called for as the cop immediately left the public establishment and followed my son. All the cops piled on . What they really wanted was a Volunteer badge. He had earlier found the mayor’s teen and other teenagers in the park after dark and was writing a report. This was at the time of the Malvern Police internal in fighting and corruption when they were reporting one another to try to prosecute them. Eventually the Chief of Police was fired. The mayor order my son’s arrest eventually (not that night). He did nothing illegal, it was the teens of Malvern Borough as they are always reeking havoc in the Bourough. It appeared no competent adults were in charge. Unfortunately, that “bad” cop is still there.
I see that the Western Area is calling for professional development or all law enforcement people, judges, probation officers and caregivers. Believe me, my son’s experience with the caregivers has been no better. They are not trained for ASD and many have not acted responsibly. Presently we have the BEST what a trip to get there. I got the following article from the Asperger/Autism Network (AANE) “Asperger syndrome in the Criminal Justice System” by Judge Kimberly Taylor (retired), Dr. Gary Mesibov, and Dennis Debbaudt (2009) Modified and Reformatted fo an AS population by Nomi Kaim. I believe all parents/guardians should write their County Court Administrators about the need to have professional development for all in the legal system and promote it for caregivers in the health systems. the retired Judge Kimberly Taylor has an ASD child and also does professional development. I am going to send this to the Court Administrator and ask her to send it on to the President Judge in our County. Then I will also send to the Police Departments in my area. The ASD people are being violated all over the place in our county and we all need to speak up or it will continue.

By: BETTY THOMAS

BETTY THOMAS — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 11:29:03 +0000

Hello Jo, you are right, we as parents do have to do our part to educate our children and I might add keep our children safe. My beautiful grown son with Autism is non-verbal and incapacitated, he does not comprehend what is going on around him. I am his natural mom who gave birth to him and I went to court to be declared his Legal Guardian a long time ago. I maintain his safety by my son never being alone. When the support staff and I are traveling with him in public and we come across police officers the encounter is always good, because my son works by visual and he sees how we responds to the officer, so he mimics what he sees us do and put his hand out to the officer to shake and say hi. This is my way of educating my son about Police Officers. Since he is low functioning and he will never be out alone.

By: Roberta Hill

Roberta Hill — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 11:46:06 +0000

In reply to Lisa Reilly.

You can find out more on the web site: http://www.besafethemovie.com/

By: Lisa Reilly

Lisa Reilly — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 11:39:55 +0000

In reply to Emily Iland. Thanks for this Emily. We participate on JT film camp in pittsburgh. Can you please share info on film production ? Thanks.

By: Emily Iland

Emily Iland — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 03:25:07 +0000

Jo, My son with ASD is grown up, and I knew I would have to do something to help him and other individuals on the spectrum be safe when interacting with the police. I worked with Joey Travolta and his film students (with ASD and other disabilities) to create BE SAFE The Movie. BE SAFE models what to do when interacting with police, and shows real police interacting with teens and adults with ASD and similar conditions. Each episode of the movie was inspired by real events and is designed to prevent a tragedy. We teach positive skills like “Stay Where You Are When You Meet the Police,” “When the Police Tell You to Do Something, Just Do It,” etc. Yes, we show American police, but that can be a positive jumping-off point for teaching about local police and procedures. Please visit our website and FB page to learn more! http://www.BeSafeTheMovie.com