Keynote: Are you prepared? Create A Safety Plan: Keeping kids safe at school, and in the community!
Dennis Debbaut
Author
04/18/2022
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Conference 2022
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- [00:00:00.000]In the meantime,
- [00:00:01.090]we're here to talk about police interactions with,
- [00:00:05.990]there we go, clickaroni..
- [00:00:08.270]Police and public safety interactions
- [00:00:10.800]with kids and adults who are autistic.
- [00:00:12.540]That's in general, the topic.
- [00:00:16.230]And those interactions were a part of my early work
- [00:00:20.440]in the early to mid '90s in first reporting,
- [00:00:23.520]about what these contacts were,
- [00:00:26.660]and what we could do to make them safer.
- [00:00:29.510]What has changed since the mid-90s is the number of people
- [00:00:34.820]affected or who now have the diagnosis
- [00:00:37.730]of autism spectrum disorder.
- [00:00:40.180]That's changed drastically.
- [00:00:42.720]And it's gotten the attention of law enforcement
- [00:00:45.250]where 25, almost 30 years ago,
- [00:00:49.300]they were interested in the subject matter.
- [00:00:51.410]But because it was not as frequent of a diagnosis as now,
- [00:00:57.040]they would take that mild interest,
- [00:00:59.510]but not devote full-time training
- [00:01:01.790]but those days are long over.
- [00:01:03.510]So I'm part of the history of this subject matter.
- [00:01:07.860]And I'm happy to do so.
- [00:01:10.670]But I do have a story about Nebraska.
- [00:01:15.430]This is my son, Brad.
- [00:01:17.870]When he was about eight, six, seven, eight,
- [00:01:20.620]and we used to go to the Tip of the Thumb in Michigan,
- [00:01:23.990]where, I'm a native Detroiter.
- [00:01:26.340]And that was a place to go in the summertime camping
- [00:01:31.060]right on Lake Huron, Saginaw Bay.
- [00:01:33.790]And it was a nice place to go swimming to.
- [00:01:36.810]It was a day that we went out swimming.
- [00:01:39.040]He had learned to become a strong swimmer
- [00:01:41.890]a few years older than this.
- [00:01:44.120]And we were swimming in the bay and then he looked,
- [00:01:47.300]I don't know what he was looking at,
- [00:01:48.660]but I found out soon enough,
- [00:01:50.720]he started saying "Nebraska, Nebraska, Nebraska."
- [00:01:54.786]And I went, "What?"
- [00:01:56.393]What new thing are we going through now?
- [00:02:00.510]He had the diagnosis for years by then.
- [00:02:04.310]And now, he's pointing into the water.
- [00:02:07.330]And I look down, I get my face in the water,
- [00:02:09.740]down in the sand is this.
- [00:02:14.710]Well, there's the beach, there's the water we were in.
- [00:02:18.260]And that's what he saw.
- [00:02:21.550]He saw that in the sand, in Saginaw Bay,
- [00:02:26.470]Lake Huron, Michigan.
- [00:02:28.030]Started yelling, "Nebraska, Nebraska, Nebraska!"
- [00:02:31.160]And guess who had to dig that out?
- [00:02:34.800]Carry it out of the bay, and then keep it at the campsite,
- [00:02:39.310]take it home to Detroit,
- [00:02:40.880]have an honorable place in our garden there,
- [00:02:43.950]take it down to Florida when we moved there in 2001,
- [00:02:47.400]and that's where it rests on the stones
- [00:02:50.770]in our front lawn in Florida now.
- [00:02:53.370]That's our Nebraska story.
- [00:02:55.567](audience applaud)
- [00:02:58.630]And so when I learned I was coming here to Nebraska,
- [00:03:01.060]I thought, "Well, maybe I'll ship the stone."
- [00:03:02.670]And my wife went, "You're not doing anything like that."
- [00:03:06.640]So I got out the camera and took a photo.
- [00:03:09.470]So there we go.
- [00:03:11.450]But yeah, from one in 10,000 people to now one in 44.
- [00:03:17.270]It's got the attention of the world.
- [00:03:20.060]There are now an estimated about 7 million people in America
- [00:03:26.560]who have autism.
- [00:03:28.570]And those numbers are way up from my reporting
- [00:03:32.476]for the FBI law enforcement bulletin
- [00:03:35.460]that was 21 years ago,
- [00:03:37.960]which became the first publication report
- [00:03:42.600]on this topic by a policing publication.
- [00:03:46.380]So autism has taken over
- [00:03:50.040]even the law enforcement field.
- [00:03:52.060]The estimate of the population in America in 2001
- [00:03:56.010]was about a half million people.
- [00:03:58.620]Globally, was around 7 million.
- [00:04:01.430]Well, you can add a zero to both those numbers now.
- [00:04:05.060]And plus.
- [00:04:06.530]So that's been one of the reasons why I'm here.
- [00:04:11.870]Why there needs to be a partnership
- [00:04:14.500]between law enforcement public safety
- [00:04:16.560]and the autism community
- [00:04:18.420]stronger than it has been in the past.
- [00:04:20.500]Hopefully, out of this visit and through contacts
- [00:04:25.890]I've already made here over the last couple days
- [00:04:31.100]that Nebraska can come out with a uniform standard training
- [00:04:36.000]that no matter who's delivering it or where in the state
- [00:04:39.690]it's being delivered, it's very consistent.
- [00:04:43.660]And that is hopefully a very short-term goal
- [00:04:46.710]to get that accomplished.
- [00:04:47.840]I think that's gonna happen,
- [00:04:49.490]which is good news for all of you then.
- [00:04:51.870]Each trainer, whether it's law enforcement trainer,
- [00:04:56.840]someone from the autism community best in tandem,
- [00:05:00.100]I would also add it's almost an obligation that you include
- [00:05:05.890]autistic people in the development and delivery
- [00:05:08.560]of these programs from now until forever.
- [00:05:12.260]Because you cannot get the kind of insight and advice
- [00:05:18.240]from other sources other than the people who have it.
- [00:05:23.830]And so that is the way of the future.
- [00:05:27.890]And I'll work hard to make sure that that gets accomplished.
- [00:05:31.660]A high rate of contact with public safety
- [00:05:34.940]for our population is up to seven times higher.
- [00:05:38.610]That hasn't changed.
- [00:05:39.730]But with that number at one and 44,
- [00:05:43.510]when I speak to law enforcement here
- [00:05:46.090]or really anywhere around the world lately,
- [00:05:50.390]everyone's familiar with autism.
- [00:05:52.120]Almost all officers have a story or more about a contact
- [00:05:58.000]that involved somebody who was autistic.
- [00:06:01.420]So that is markedly different than 25 years ago.
- [00:06:08.960]So what can we do to make those contacts safer
- [00:06:15.280]will be to do what policing does.
- [00:06:17.980]Here are some images of some of the folks in my audiences
- [00:06:22.780]over the years, I just grabbed a handful of them.
- [00:06:28.170]Large audiences for training, some aren't as large.
- [00:06:34.010]There's the NYPD people, they're clowns.
- [00:06:37.720]I can tell you that right now.
- [00:06:40.740]And we have the attention of the police.
- [00:06:43.830]So why are they training on autism
- [00:06:46.580]or for any other reason for their career?
- [00:06:50.450]It's to be prepared for an emergency contact
- [00:06:55.950]when it's through no fault of anybody's,
- [00:06:59.600]it's involuntary that your skill level to communicate
- [00:07:04.640]and process information and your reaction time,
- [00:07:07.960]your ability to think clearly, goes down.
- [00:07:10.360]That's just the fact.
- [00:07:11.970]What carries law enforcement through those contacts
- [00:07:15.370]are training over and over and over again.
- [00:07:17.740]So the training, the memory skills carry them through
- [00:07:22.570]till that first primary effect of an emergency
- [00:07:27.230]starts to wear off.
- [00:07:29.420]So if they're doing it, why aren't we?
- [00:07:34.190]Why can't we prepare ourselves and autistic individuals
- [00:07:38.500]and the folks who maybe with them at the time,
- [00:07:41.100]but on a regular basis, to be as prepared as the police?
- [00:07:45.350]So I think we're missing the boat.
- [00:07:46.630]I know we're missing the boat in the autism community.
- [00:07:49.730]We need to put that up there as a priority of education,
- [00:07:53.910]just as important as any subject matter
- [00:07:59.130]that's required for learning
- [00:08:03.090]any social skill, any life skill.
- [00:08:06.810]I can't think of anything more important
- [00:08:08.680]than your own personal safety.
- [00:08:10.530]And we're concerned about it,
- [00:08:13.330]but we're not doing enough about it to make it more formal.
- [00:08:17.040]But even informal in how it's carried out.
- [00:08:21.370]So I will talk a little bit about how that happens too.
- [00:08:27.070]But basically, law enforcement
- [00:08:29.810]is developing their own safety plan
- [00:08:31.670]for themselves and others.
- [00:08:33.440]We need to do likewise.
- [00:08:35.100]So what do you want to see in that plan
- [00:08:37.660]becomes a very primary question.
- [00:08:41.780]Because our family, students,
- [00:08:44.580]adults who are autistic, need help.
- [00:08:47.760]So having a plan that we can revisit.
- [00:08:52.740]This is not a one-off.
- [00:08:54.410]It's not something you do once.
- [00:08:55.940]It's something you do over and over and over again
- [00:08:58.960]to make it better.
- [00:08:59.793]Identify risks, address them.
- [00:09:03.090]Prepare, prepare, prepare.
- [00:09:05.816]Get ready for it.
- [00:09:08.490]Once a month would be a suggested timeframe.
- [00:09:12.110]It can be more often depending on the person.
- [00:09:16.050]These should be person-specific plans.
- [00:09:20.044]They're best served that way.
- [00:09:22.340]And then you can think about some of the emergencies
- [00:09:27.440]where you could create a handout or information,
- [00:09:30.771]get it into the hands of people,
- [00:09:33.100]such as the police or fire rescue
- [00:09:35.060]or emergency medical services,
- [00:09:36.510]or even in through the ears of 911 telecommunicators.
- [00:09:42.851]A really overlooked part of public safety.
- [00:09:46.640]And do it with a team approach.
- [00:09:48.590]So there are lots of ideas flowing around.
- [00:09:51.050]You don't have to resolve the problem
- [00:09:54.790]immediately or overnight.
- [00:09:57.360]But when you have a plan to meet every month,
- [00:10:00.410]it becomes part of a routine.
- [00:10:03.350]Hey, have you paid any insurance bills lately?
- [00:10:08.229]For anything?
- [00:10:09.380]Car insurance? Okay.
- [00:10:11.253]Do you put on your seatbelt every time you get in your car?
- [00:10:15.830]90% of the time.
- [00:10:16.930]Let's get that up to 100.
- [00:10:18.894](audience laughing)
- [00:10:20.129]Maybe this public airing
- [00:10:23.320]of the fail rate of 10%
- [00:10:26.950]will urge you to put it on all the time.
- [00:10:29.920]Yeah, right.
- [00:10:31.450]Do you lock your doors at home at night?
- [00:10:33.540]Okay, you do do that.
- [00:10:36.590]So have you been robbed lately?
- [00:10:38.650]Have you been into an auto accident?
- [00:10:40.990]Did you need to cash in something on those insurance?
- [00:10:44.210]No, we do that stuff
- [00:10:45.930]without even giving it a second thought.
- [00:10:47.680]And that's all about risk management.
- [00:10:50.740]I'm not really concerned somebody's gonna break,
- [00:10:54.860]but I do lock the doors because it's become a routine.
- [00:11:01.100]Take that same approach when it comes to autism
- [00:11:03.709]risk and safety issues.
- [00:11:06.780]Identify your team members.
- [00:11:09.240]In many cases, it'll be parents or immediate family
- [00:11:13.820]or extended family.
- [00:11:14.930]It can be friends.
- [00:11:16.510]It can be folks that you bring through your meetings
- [00:11:20.320]to address a particular issue.
- [00:11:21.664]It could be the police.
- [00:11:22.860]It could be therapists at school, advisors.
- [00:11:26.340]The same people who are helping to educate you
- [00:11:29.050]about every aspect of a young person's education
- [00:11:34.770]will be able to give you good feedback too.
- [00:11:37.360]But you'll have your core folks.
- [00:11:39.610]And these meetings don't have to be four hours.
- [00:11:42.450]You don't have to do it on Zoom necessarily.
- [00:11:44.740]It could, that'd be a good medium.
- [00:11:48.570]But if you're doing it on a regular basis,
- [00:11:51.120]you'll be thinking about the potential risks.
- [00:11:54.170]The more you think about it and plan for what you would do
- [00:11:57.180]if they happen, the more likely you're to recognize
- [00:12:01.750]those risks when they do occur.
- [00:12:04.070]You'll be much more prepared.
- [00:12:05.740]You'll probably see risky behavior,
- [00:12:08.610]risky circumstances before they happen.
- [00:12:12.060]So that alone can drive down the numbers of contacts.
- [00:12:16.570]Because you will be quicker to approach it.
- [00:12:21.660]Recognize that, oh yeah, we were talking about that.
- [00:12:24.950]Willy nilly.
- [00:12:28.300]Determine the student's independence level.
- [00:12:32.750]I don't have a monitor here.
- [00:12:34.920]I'd be looking at the monitor now.
- [00:12:36.320]So the monitor is the screen.
- [00:12:38.470]You don't care, do you?
- [00:12:40.640]Good, I didn't think so.
- [00:12:44.580]Independence level is something
- [00:12:46.390]that can change and change quickly.
- [00:12:48.860]But you do wanna make a reasonable assessment
- [00:12:51.450]about whether someone is less independent
- [00:12:54.400]or more independent.
- [00:12:56.520]I'm not gonna use level numbers or all the old terminology
- [00:13:00.330]that I don't like.
- [00:13:02.630]'Cause it sounds like we're describing
- [00:13:04.296]machines or something.
- [00:13:06.620]I'll just say this, a less independent person
- [00:13:09.320]would be someone I would estimate that would need
- [00:13:12.689]an appropriate adult with them would proximity,
- [00:13:16.240]three, four, five feet anytime they are out in the community
- [00:13:20.447]and sometimes, even at home.
- [00:13:23.550]Because if they didn't have
- [00:13:25.040]that kind of appropriate adult supervision,
- [00:13:29.530]they may wander off,
- [00:13:30.800]not be able to recognize a risk such as deep water,
- [00:13:34.910]places of height, traffic, and go and jump into the water
- [00:13:39.700]if they can't swim or run out into the road.
- [00:13:42.700]These would be less independent folks.
- [00:13:46.000]A baseline question to determine that
- [00:13:48.547]would be, is this person capable
- [00:13:51.230]of crossing a street safely 100% of the time?
- [00:13:57.630]That's the question you wanna ask yourself.
- [00:13:59.610]And the only good answer in the affirmative
- [00:14:03.920]would be a strong yes.
- [00:14:06.060]Yeah I think so is a no.
- [00:14:08.500]Maybe, that's a no.
- [00:14:10.780]Probably, that's a no.
- [00:14:12.770]And if it's a no, there's a person,
- [00:14:15.150]I don't care what their age is.
- [00:14:18.790]That is a person that would need
- [00:14:20.150]an appropriate adult with them at all times.
- [00:14:23.500]So there isn't well,
- [00:14:24.490]they could probably go down to the corner and get back fine.
- [00:14:27.310]No, that's a no.
- [00:14:29.320]You don't wanna run that risk because bad things happen
- [00:14:33.000]when people who can't recognize risk
- [00:14:35.950]are left up to themselves to manage it.
- [00:14:38.610]Recognize the risk, take steps to manage or avoid it.
- [00:14:43.653]And so that is a baseline.
- [00:14:45.469]There are other baselines for less independent.
- [00:14:49.580]Can they perform a financial transaction?
- [00:14:54.300]Buy something, get the change.
- [00:14:55.690]Can they use public transportation to get somewhere in back?
- [00:14:58.590]No.
- [00:14:59.423]If they can't cross that street safely.
- [00:15:01.700]Could they tell other people their name,
- [00:15:04.580]address, and phone number?
- [00:15:07.130]If the answer is no.
- [00:15:08.319]There's another factor in making that determination.
- [00:15:13.420]But the baseline there is crossing the street
- [00:15:16.190]is as simple as that.
- [00:15:17.480]And then there are more independent people, of course,
- [00:15:20.940]who can do that and who learn how to drive,
- [00:15:24.220]will be able to speak to others.
- [00:15:25.890]So the risk levels, there's risk there as well,
- [00:15:30.340]but it's not the highest risk
- [00:15:33.150]when it comes down to life and death.
- [00:15:36.780]So the risk for some folks who are more independent
- [00:15:40.630]may be the issue of fair justice out here.
- [00:15:44.160]So making that determination is part of your team.
- [00:15:46.970]That can change.
- [00:15:48.600]But you wanna look at what's happening in the here and now.
- [00:15:51.810]Maybe that will change in a few years.
- [00:15:54.140]And you can monitor, you can make it better,
- [00:15:57.630]but that would be a determination
- [00:16:00.810]that I would suggest you make at your first meeting,
- [00:16:03.940]or at least start thinking about it, gathering your data.
- [00:16:07.340]Of course, keep records of your meetings.
- [00:16:09.420]Somebody should keep notes.
- [00:16:11.610]You don't have to build book out of it
- [00:16:14.010]or go crazy with the notes, but do keep it.
- [00:16:16.150]Or an audio record and so you can gauge progress that way.
- [00:16:23.380]So how are other people gonna know
- [00:16:27.440]that the individual's autistic?
- [00:16:32.360]Any ideas?
- [00:16:35.020]Anybody?
- [00:16:38.470]So if I don't tell you I'm autistic.
- [00:16:41.940]Can I be assured that you're gonna be able
- [00:16:45.100]to recognize it in me?
- [00:16:47.120]No.
- [00:16:48.300]So it's not a task that everyone can accomplish it
- [00:16:53.610]or that anyone could accomplish that 100% of the time.
- [00:16:57.270]That's an unreasonable ask.
- [00:17:01.230]And if you're wrong,
- [00:17:02.780]it could make the difference in safety and risk.
- [00:17:06.780]So the best way that folks will know
- [00:17:09.550]is if we tell them or disclosure.
- [00:17:12.580]And disclosure takes away the guesswork for law enforcement.
- [00:17:18.080]If they know that there's an autistic individual in this car
- [00:17:22.650]or in this home, and we already know
- [00:17:24.820]that I can now, as law enforcement or public safety,
- [00:17:28.380]prepare to interact with them.
- [00:17:30.380]If I knew something in particular
- [00:17:34.560]about a particular person with autism,
- [00:17:37.360]then that's an upgrade.
- [00:17:42.150]So then I know exactly how this person operates.
- [00:17:45.120]So there's generic tips and information
- [00:17:48.070]that we can absolutely share with our partners
- [00:17:52.290]in public safety and policing.
- [00:17:54.260]And then the upgrade will be,
- [00:17:56.340]let's make it person-specific
- [00:17:59.320]because that even broadens out the opportunities,
- [00:18:02.470]the variety of choices that they may have
- [00:18:05.270]in order to manage a contact safely, where nobody gets hurt.
- [00:18:10.510]Invests the proper amount of time, give people space,
- [00:18:14.090]simplify, spoken and visual communications.
- [00:18:21.530]And if you know how a particular person best operates,
- [00:18:25.680]you can refine that even more.
- [00:18:27.590]So that's where we wanna get to.
- [00:18:30.450]So in a word, it's disclosure.
- [00:18:32.440]Disclosure is our friend.
- [00:18:34.900]Lack of disclosure can produce the opposite effects.
- [00:18:38.880]Ill-informed contacts, people who don't know your autistic
- [00:18:41.950]and are now treating you as if you're typical.
- [00:18:44.980]That sometimes that makes everything worse.
- [00:18:47.490]So disclosure is something we wanna strive for.
- [00:18:52.700]Did anybody get a copy of these cards yet today?
- [00:18:57.740]Some of you may have gone to an earlier session.
- [00:19:00.910]So I have probably enough of these cards.
- [00:19:03.580]So if you don't have one, you can get one before you leave.
- [00:19:06.540]If you do have one, let the folks that didn't get one
- [00:19:10.030]get one first and then you can have all the rest of them.
- [00:19:13.950]Sound good?
- [00:19:15.610]All right, we'll do that.
- [00:19:16.900]We'll make sure you get one.
- [00:19:18.660]And I can also provide that in a digital format
- [00:19:22.490]for people to like to store things on their phones.
- [00:19:26.210]I can barely make a phone call on my cell phone.
- [00:19:30.060]I was using phone booths not that long ago.
- [00:19:32.680]I still know how to use a phone booth.
- [00:19:34.890]Real good at that.
- [00:19:38.690]So person-specific is the better format.
- [00:19:42.400]This template here would allow you to share a photograph,
- [00:19:47.160]a digital photograph, person's name, where they live,
- [00:19:51.280]any cell phone numbers, emergency contacts,
- [00:19:54.410]sensory information, what they may like or dislike,
- [00:19:58.190]how best to communicate with them,
- [00:20:00.440]how best to calm them down
- [00:20:02.530]if they are in an escalated state of being
- [00:20:07.389]and it's particular to a person.
- [00:20:10.030]That really is an upgrade for policing.
- [00:20:14.950]So again, this is a close up of the same form.
- [00:20:20.370]So that would help identify that person
- [00:20:22.900]if the police came by them.
- [00:20:24.930]But more importantly, it gives places
- [00:20:27.980]where they may have gone in the past
- [00:20:29.960]where favored places for them to go to
- [00:20:32.301]to help with the search and rescue.
- [00:20:35.140]When kids or adults,
- [00:20:39.580]especially on the less independent
- [00:20:41.670]end of the spectrum go missing,
- [00:20:44.600]seconds matter in finding them.
- [00:20:48.950]Seconds can also shorten up somebody's life
- [00:20:54.187]or put them in a very dangerous position.
- [00:20:57.160]So the more seconds we can add to an informed response,
- [00:21:02.010]the quicker we can do this, the better quality contact.
- [00:21:07.410]We can expect better contacts.
- [00:21:10.850]So images like this,
- [00:21:14.320]I was aware of them in the '90s.
- [00:21:16.160]First was sent images of it.
- [00:21:20.410]There's a lot more of these.
- [00:21:21.890]They're not everywhere, but this kind of road sign
- [00:21:25.900]is becoming more common in the US,
- [00:21:28.380]in Canada, even in the UK.
- [00:21:32.982]A medical jewelry, a shoe tag,
- [00:21:36.520]it can be really valuable to carry personal information.
- [00:21:41.460]A phone number, a name and address
- [00:21:44.220]as well as the fact that the wearer has ASD.
- [00:21:49.400]They can be useful.
- [00:21:50.920]This particular image.
- [00:21:52.570]Some people don't like this image.
- [00:21:54.510]Everybody knows that.
- [00:21:56.641]But that doesn't really matter
- [00:21:57.990]for policing in public safety.
- [00:22:00.800]It's the word autism that makes this not an awareness tool,
- [00:22:05.650]but a tool of disclosure.
- [00:22:08.220]And so in my classes over the last 20 years,
- [00:22:12.830]I have been teaching to recognize and look
- [00:22:16.760]for these awareness symbols and gear on vehicles,
- [00:22:21.690]on buses and homes, on a T-shirt, on a hat,
- [00:22:25.400]on a wristband, on a shoe tag.
- [00:22:28.480]And that is law enforcement or public safety's cue
- [00:22:32.360]to start asking questions about autism, who may have it,
- [00:22:35.270]does somebody have it here?
- [00:22:37.630]It's a green light to also start thinking about the tips
- [00:22:43.470]and advice that you've been provided at training.
- [00:22:46.860]And it's a disclosure.
- [00:22:48.630]So if this disclosures our friend,
- [00:22:51.100]these are tools of disclosure
- [00:22:54.350]that we should consider using out here.
- [00:22:59.370]And the good news is, this is dated February 14th, 2022.
- [00:23:05.670]It's part of the paperwork to get the law passed
- [00:23:08.330]to have a Nebraska autism specialty license plate.
- [00:23:13.190]And that's good news for everybody.
- [00:23:15.280]So you don't have to use one of these,
- [00:23:19.270]but again, as a tool of disclosure,
- [00:23:23.070]it doesn't come any better than that.
- [00:23:24.910]It's a affixed to your car.
- [00:23:26.430]You don't have to worry about it.
- [00:23:27.550]There it is.
- [00:23:29.310]So that's coming here to Nebraska
- [00:23:32.529]and you will join about half the country
- [00:23:34.000]that has a state license plate with the word autism on it,
- [00:23:39.310]regardless of the design.
- [00:23:41.420]Everybody's unique, may act or react differently.
- [00:23:45.300]So the generic training and tips are good,
- [00:23:49.340]but they all contain, at least mine do, the words may.
- [00:23:53.560]That word may is repeated and you don't see the word will.
- [00:23:59.780]As in all autistic people will respond well
- [00:24:04.340]to a stuffed animal or a sensory toy.
- [00:24:10.990]We know that's not true, but they may.
- [00:24:14.410]So that's fair enough to share the generic information.
- [00:24:18.290]As long as your audience knows,
- [00:24:20.490]it ain't gonna work with everybody,
- [00:24:23.700]but it's safe enough to try.
- [00:24:25.900]And as long as it's safe for you as an officer
- [00:24:29.400]or a first responder, as long as your personal safety
- [00:24:32.490]isn't compromised, you have nothing to lose by trying.
- [00:24:38.540]So knowing a person's fascinations, their routines,
- [00:24:42.170]things that they may like or dislike,
- [00:24:44.610]things that may cause them to go out and explore.
- [00:24:47.600]That lake, I always wanted to jump in that pond
- [00:24:49.730]right around the corner.
- [00:24:51.370]Never had a chance to, but today, nobody's here.
- [00:24:56.140]I'm going there.
- [00:24:57.767]That could be a motivation.
- [00:24:59.430]Or there's something in the home that bothers me,
- [00:25:01.910]but I can't tell mom or dad.
- [00:25:04.000]It's in the carpet.
- [00:25:04.833]There's something coming out of that carpet
- [00:25:06.180]that bothers me but all I can do is wanna get I out of here.
- [00:25:10.210]So it can be influences in the environment.
- [00:25:13.430]Lighting, sounds, odors, you name it.
- [00:25:16.820]That can cause a child or an adult to want to flee.
- [00:25:20.240]And that's just scratching the surface
- [00:25:22.180]of what may be causing this.
- [00:25:23.540]We may be able to, as with escalated or aggressive behavior,
- [00:25:30.480]fix in and resolve some of the triggers
- [00:25:33.210]and take those out of that person's life.
- [00:25:36.330]But new triggers come along
- [00:25:37.213]that we don't even know are triggers.
- [00:25:39.620]So we're constantly in a state of investigating
- [00:25:43.050]what's bothering somebody or causing them to flee
- [00:25:46.860]or change their behavior.
- [00:25:49.860]So that would be something
- [00:25:51.160]that you would definitely wanna bring up
- [00:25:54.420]in your monthly or even more frequent safety plan meetings.
- [00:26:01.180]And the sensory environment.
- [00:26:04.750]So those images
- [00:26:10.150]and your handout can be visual.
- [00:26:13.490]They can be on paper.
- [00:26:14.510]You can give them away.
- [00:26:15.920]You can memorize them and be able to brief people
- [00:26:19.470]if you're able to speak.
- [00:26:21.720]And they can be direct.
- [00:26:24.677]"I'm autistic" is about as direct as it gets, isn't it,
- [00:26:28.897]"I'm on the spectrum."
- [00:26:31.400]We know what that means.
- [00:26:33.450]But will an outsider know the slang of autism?
- [00:26:36.580]So the answer to that is we teach the slang of autism
- [00:26:40.690]to law enforcement.
- [00:26:43.340]Here's a crisis emergency call.
- [00:26:45.900]It's coming from a video,
- [00:26:47.430]one of the first video projects that I worked on in the '90s
- [00:26:51.540]but it's very relevant information for today.
- [00:26:56.600]So let's meet Michael.
- [00:27:00.480](gentle piano music)
- [00:27:02.530]This is Michael.
- [00:27:03.820]At times, he seems very bright and very normal.
- [00:27:06.100]He's 15 years old.
- [00:27:08.030]And tonight is a special night for him
- [00:27:09.860]because he's visiting his mother.
- [00:27:12.270]For the past 15 months,
- [00:27:13.940]he's been living in a group home because his mother felt
- [00:27:16.210]that she couldn't deal with him anymore.
- [00:27:18.540]What really was the final straw was the night he ran away
- [00:27:21.510]in his underwear and the freezing rain.
- [00:27:26.130]He was kicking me.
- [00:27:27.620]We had a county worker here,
- [00:27:30.260]TSS here with me until nine o'clock.
- [00:27:33.720]And at by quarter after nine, he waited until they left.
- [00:27:37.380]And then he came after me 'cause he was mad at me
- [00:27:40.460]'cause they wouldn't let him do something.
- [00:27:42.290]So he came after me and started kicking me in the shins
- [00:27:45.500]and I already had black and blue marks all over my legs.
- [00:27:48.440]And let's see, he was punching me
- [00:27:52.500]and my husband went in to restrain him,
- [00:27:54.280]to get him off of me and he got scared.
- [00:27:56.620]So he ran away in his underwear.
- [00:27:59.450]It was 33 degrees.
- [00:28:00.780]It was freezing rain.
- [00:28:01.970]I thought to myself that night,
- [00:28:03.280]if the police would've picked him up,
- [00:28:05.410]if someone would've said there's a kid in his underwear
- [00:28:07.830]at my backyard and he would've started talking to them
- [00:28:11.560]like he talks, they would've thought he was on drugs.
- [00:28:14.560]Then they'd have handcuff him and thrown him
- [00:28:15.930]in the backseat of the squad car.
- [00:28:18.330]So that really scared me.
- [00:28:20.840]Tonight, as we watch her conversation
- [00:28:23.150]with her son is all about tickling and touches
- [00:28:25.840]and getting him understand
- [00:28:27.060]just what's appropriate behaviors.
- [00:28:29.330]Remember that phrase, appropriate behavior.
- [00:28:31.600]You'll hear it again.
- [00:28:33.030]It's as if Michael and other kids like him have just landed
- [00:28:36.300]on this planet and have to be taught all about our customs.
- [00:28:51.900]I just wanna tell you, ask you something.
- [00:28:56.305]Remember I always go.
- [00:29:00.910]And I sometimes like smack you.
- [00:29:05.447][Michael's Mother] You're not supposed to do that.
- [00:29:07.060]Yeah, and when I tickle you, I had a question.
- [00:29:12.298]is that like a (indistinct)?
- [00:29:15.010][Michael's Mother] Yeah.
- [00:29:15.843]A 15-year-old boy doesn't look right
- [00:29:16.940]walking up and sticking his finger
- [00:29:18.099]in his mother's underarm.
- [00:29:19.990]Like say if I did this to you
- [00:29:22.210]and then like five minutes again, do it to you again.
- [00:29:25.561][Michael's Mother] Yeah, most 15-year-old boys
- [00:29:27.610]don't walk up--
- [00:29:28.895]I wouldn't do it like.
- [00:29:30.442][Michael's Mother] But even once.
- [00:29:31.730]Well you have to really explain things to Michael.
- [00:29:34.740]I mean, you can't just,
- [00:29:36.670]you can't just give him a quick answer
- [00:29:39.020]because he really doesn't understand.
- [00:29:41.301]And plus the fact that he likes to control the situation.
- [00:29:45.560]Notice the hesitant eye contact
- [00:29:47.300]when Michael speaks.
- [00:29:48.670]Autistic people often have difficulty
- [00:29:50.630]coordinating different processes
- [00:29:52.670]or taking in information
- [00:29:53.920]through more than one sense at a time.
- [00:29:56.580]If he's busy thinking about what he's trying to say,
- [00:29:59.510]or listening to what you're saying to him,
- [00:30:01.720]he may not be tuned into his eyes.
- [00:30:04.090]He cannot draw conclusions
- [00:30:05.790]about an autistic person's attentiveness,
- [00:30:08.300]comprehension, intentions, or sincerity
- [00:30:12.200]based on his or her eye contact.
- [00:30:14.610]Michael says he knows he has an anger problem.
- [00:30:17.290]I've gotten mad when people wouldn't let me,
- [00:30:28.856]I have things my own way.
- [00:30:32.350]And they wouldn't let me like do certain stuff to them.
- [00:30:40.980]Whenever I get upset, I do something bad.
- [00:30:44.564](gentle music)
- [00:30:48.160]And then I maybe hate my mom.
- [00:30:53.193]Or punch her.
- [00:30:56.881]That's what I do.
- [00:30:59.186]Yeah, and thank you, Michael,
- [00:31:00.610]for providing that information.
- [00:31:02.900]So it's not only the missing child or adult
- [00:31:08.220]who's less independent.
- [00:31:09.940]It's these crisis calls.
- [00:31:11.280]Not every family's living through this,
- [00:31:12.997]but there are way too many
- [00:31:14.540]out of the 7 million families affected
- [00:31:18.430]that these become extremely isolating, dangerous places.
- [00:31:24.410]Especially when someone, the child, the teen,
- [00:31:27.650]the adult has a very high frequency
- [00:31:32.380]and high intensity episodes
- [00:31:37.990]not just four or five times a year,
- [00:31:39.930]but four or five times a month, a week, a day
- [00:31:42.920]or 30 or 40 times a day.
- [00:31:45.360]So for these folks, they can live in places
- [00:31:48.930]that some of us can't imagine.
- [00:31:52.540]And what is troubling to me,
- [00:31:54.360]some folks are afraid to call the police
- [00:31:57.510]or afraid of what the police will do,
- [00:31:59.133]so they refrain from 911, take the abuse.
- [00:32:02.830]There are cases of family members,
- [00:32:05.490]parents who chosen not to talk about it,
- [00:32:08.570]not share this information with family,
- [00:32:10.770]friends, and other advocates.
- [00:32:12.860]Even active advocates who in silence and secrecy
- [00:32:16.770]had lifetimes, where they would take the beating
- [00:32:19.970]and in some cases, losing their life.
- [00:32:25.610]So we need to talk about this issue.
- [00:32:28.650]If it's troubling and it is, talking about it,
- [00:32:32.260]identifying it, sharing our information
- [00:32:34.700]is certainly briefing up law enforcement
- [00:32:36.850]and other emergency responders.
- [00:32:39.260]So they can respond better as well as lobby our politicians
- [00:32:44.170]for these laws that were promised back in the '70s
- [00:32:47.765]that said we will empty the institutions which happened.
- [00:32:52.960]And we will provide emergency mental health care to people
- [00:32:57.490]where they live, as opposed to in an institutional setting.
- [00:33:01.930]That was just an empty promise, folks.
- [00:33:04.100]And it comes back to us, not the police.
- [00:33:07.420]Not anybody else.
- [00:33:09.200]We need to decide as a society,
- [00:33:11.180]whether or not we're going to put our tax dollars
- [00:33:13.930]and resolve this issue.
- [00:33:15.550]Because right now, too many more independent people
- [00:33:18.710]are living in the so-called formally known
- [00:33:22.040]as homeless communities in America,
- [00:33:24.730]which are growing and growing and growing and very evident
- [00:33:28.540]from the freeways of America and in every American city,
- [00:33:32.070]even where it's cold.
- [00:33:34.020]And they become recruiting grounds and targets for people
- [00:33:37.327]who are selling drugs, human traffickers,
- [00:33:39.660]people that are in sex trades.
- [00:33:41.820]These are where folks who are now out of prison
- [00:33:47.360]may be living in this community
- [00:33:49.960]that represents millions of Americans.
- [00:33:52.030]We need to decide as a society
- [00:33:55.360]if we want our tax money to go there.
- [00:33:57.890]And if that's the case, start electing people
- [00:33:59.447]who are gonna to do it.
- [00:34:01.290]Or we're gonna be left with this issue with little insight.
- [00:34:06.360]And it will become as it is right now.
- [00:34:09.610]The county sheriff system in America,
- [00:34:12.280]every county in America has an elected sheriff.
- [00:34:17.030]And it is those Sheriff's departments
- [00:34:20.030]that maintain the jail in that county
- [00:34:23.080]and the sheriffs become the defacto providers
- [00:34:26.610]of emergency mental healthcare in America.
- [00:34:30.660]They provide more medication as well as places to stay.
- [00:34:37.260]And jail ain't cool, but far as you gonna get fed
- [00:34:43.521]and you're gonna get your medications,
- [00:34:45.690]it's getting down to that in America.
- [00:34:48.230]We can do better than that.
- [00:34:50.060]So we need to join with a wider group of advocates
- [00:34:53.090]to see that one through.
- [00:34:57.120]And when I'm in the police training room,
- [00:34:59.900]this message is not long on law enforcement.
- [00:35:03.460]They get it.
- [00:35:05.370]They would want to see that happen too.
- [00:35:07.930]ASD and missing students.
- [00:35:10.370]This happened about 12 days ago.
- [00:35:12.730]In Poughkeepsie, New York.
- [00:35:15.610]Seven-year-old girl walked out that school.
- [00:35:19.070]And walked about 6/10 of a mile.
- [00:35:24.850]In about 30 minutes,
- [00:35:26.380]a patrolling police officer saw her,
- [00:35:30.570]went out and gathered her up, took her into custody.
- [00:35:33.780]She was autistic and walked off the school.
- [00:35:36.350]In the meantime, the school's policy,
- [00:35:39.790]here's the policy and the protocols.
- [00:35:43.300]When a student goes missing.
- [00:35:44.760]When a student is reported missing,
- [00:35:46.670]all available staff do a sweep of the building.
- [00:35:50.060]An announcement is made for the student
- [00:35:51.700]to report back to class.
- [00:35:54.670]Then a sweep of the ground.
- [00:35:57.620]The campus grounds is conducted.
- [00:36:01.700]The final step is to call the police.
- [00:36:06.590]Does it sound good to you?
- [00:36:09.350]Sound a good fair policy?
- [00:36:11.550]What do you think should change?
- [00:36:15.160]Should call the police first, right.
- [00:36:17.380]Students missing, especially a student with autism,
- [00:36:20.050]but any student.
- [00:36:21.670]Your primary call is to the police.
- [00:36:23.830]And then everything else might be extremely valuable,
- [00:36:28.130]but the police can now start looking out in the community.
- [00:36:31.190]The seven-year-old girl got 6/10 of a mile away
- [00:36:35.750]in less than 30 minutes.
- [00:36:37.080]So we could do something about that.
- [00:36:39.230]We can at least change the policy.
- [00:36:42.870]So there it is.
- [00:36:43.730]There's the answer.
- [00:36:45.720]Here is a police sergeant who will give you a briefing
- [00:36:50.540]about her recovery of a student
- [00:36:52.970]who also walked off a campus.
- [00:36:55.660]He was 15.
- [00:36:56.670]You'll get to meet him a little bit.
- [00:36:59.520]And he crossed over the Pacific Coast Highway
- [00:37:02.270]at about 2:30 in the afternoon on a weekday.
- [00:37:05.760]The Pacific Coast Highway is three lanes on each side
- [00:37:11.201]with a divided highway in the middle, with a speed limit
- [00:37:15.940]after you go through the lights of 55.
- [00:37:19.100]And many of you, it's not the interstate,
- [00:37:23.820]but it's the first major road from the ocean to the east.
- [00:37:28.410]And this was out in Oregon.
- [00:37:29.580]So I'll let the Sergeant describe what happened that day.
- [00:37:34.477]I remember hearing a call come in
- [00:37:37.250]that somebody had seen him actually run across highway 99.
- [00:37:41.360]We just received a report of a student
- [00:37:43.810]by the name of Daniel.
- [00:37:45.170]He's autistic, noncommunicative
- [00:37:47.407]and he took off running from the middle school.
- [00:37:50.157]His last location was heading towards Highway 99.
- [00:37:54.784]And I knew that I was in a great position
- [00:37:57.890]to possibly intercede and get him to safety.
- [00:38:04.490]When I saw Dan, I wanted to try to remain calm,
- [00:38:10.890]talk calmly with him.
- [00:38:12.880]I knew that it was best to try not to have my lights
- [00:38:16.430]or my siren on.
- [00:38:17.740]He was definitely kind of jumping up and down
- [00:38:20.650]and kind of waving his arms around.
- [00:38:24.280]He was fearful, is the way that I perceived it.
- [00:38:28.313]Hi Dan, I'm Officer Smith.
- [00:38:30.609]I was calling him to me.
- [00:38:32.110]And once I was able to get him close to me,
- [00:38:38.300]he was pretty excited and pretty nervous.
- [00:38:42.270]I was pretty nervous myself.
- [00:38:44.104]I didn't want him to go back into traffic.
- [00:38:47.370]Let's go this way.
- [00:38:49.390]Check out my car.
- [00:38:59.270]I remember placing him in kind of an escort hold
- [00:39:03.250]that kind of grabbed an arm and walked into the car
- [00:39:07.710]and got him inside and drove him back to mom.
- [00:39:14.430]Dan's mom brought him to the station
- [00:39:16.430]to thank Officer Smith.
- [00:39:22.910]Yeah.
- [00:39:24.450]I mean, he finally gave the high five out,
- [00:39:26.770]but it took him a while.
- [00:39:28.248]He's playing hard to get, I think.
- [00:39:31.910]I had a chance.
- [00:39:32.820]In our video, we produced a video on what led up to that.
- [00:39:37.660]And we interviewed mom.
- [00:39:38.920]There were a couple of good Samaritans.
- [00:39:41.530]One was a teacher at the school that he attended.
- [00:39:44.380]And another was a student who recognized him
- [00:39:46.740]when they were leaving school early
- [00:39:49.120]because of a dental appointment.
- [00:39:51.240]It was just happenstance that they saw him
- [00:39:54.720]and they were able to honk.
- [00:39:55.840]They couldn't get out and they didn't want to force Dan
- [00:39:59.550]out into the highway, but he was fixed they to go out there.
- [00:40:02.780]So they blasted their horn, blasted, blasted, blasted,
- [00:40:06.220]and enough people heard the honking
- [00:40:08.370]and started slowing down.
- [00:40:09.567]And that allowed Dan to cross that highway
- [00:40:13.040]without getting hit.
- [00:40:15.140]But in too many other circumstances,
- [00:40:19.680]I call it divine intervention
- [00:40:21.440]and I've seen it over and over and over again
- [00:40:25.360]while covering these incidents.
- [00:40:27.820]But the tragedies are out there too.
- [00:40:34.350]So here are some search and rescue tips
- [00:40:42.553]that my production company put together to share
- [00:40:45.570]with law enforcement places where autistic people may go
- [00:40:49.110]with a heavy focus on water sources.
- [00:40:52.170]Drowning is a leading cause of death
- [00:40:53.960]for people who are autistic
- [00:40:55.910]and where I live now, our family in Florida,
- [00:40:59.060]there's a lot of water.
- [00:41:00.260]It's a shallow state.
- [00:41:02.980]You dig 20 feet, water comes up.
- [00:41:05.600]It never freezes.
- [00:41:06.880]And we all love water, don't we?
- [00:41:10.520]We need to drink it every few days to stay alive.
- [00:41:13.730]We're made up of water, 55
- [00:41:16.340]to 70% of our bodies are water.
- [00:41:20.150]Water feels good when we're in it.
- [00:41:23.810]So we like hot tubs.
- [00:41:24.850]We like going swimming.
- [00:41:26.220]We don't go into the deep end
- [00:41:27.880]because there's a respect for water.
- [00:41:29.710]So for some less independent folks,
- [00:41:33.120]they don't recognize the risk.
- [00:41:35.780]And so are taking no steps to avoid it.
- [00:41:38.900]So it's a very attractive sensory,
- [00:41:43.020]as well as life-giving and supporting phenomenon
- [00:41:48.410]that we live.
- [00:41:49.243]We gotta have water and we like it.
- [00:41:52.890]Drowning is a leading cause of death for people with autism.
- [00:41:56.600]Children and adults all too often seek out
- [00:41:58.950]and enter water sources without knowing how to swim.
- [00:42:01.620]Daniel, you did awesome.
- [00:42:03.063]High five.
- [00:42:05.396]These less independent individuals
- [00:42:07.440]lack both the ability to recognize danger
- [00:42:10.860]and the ability to avoid it.
- [00:42:14.340]Thoroughly search all nearby water sources.
- [00:42:17.600]They may be found in or near rivers,
- [00:42:20.470]lakes, creeks, ponds, pools, and fountains.
- [00:42:26.690]Search permanent or seasonal pools,
- [00:42:29.610]retention ponds, parks, and golf courses.
- [00:42:35.040]They may also be dangerously attracted to vehicles
- [00:42:37.940]and wander into traffic
- [00:42:40.410]or attempt to enter nearby homes or dwellings.
- [00:42:49.660]They may wander onto train tracks.
- [00:42:53.540]And elevated places, the rooftops and bridges,
- [00:43:03.290]Search hiding places such as unlocked or abandoned cars,
- [00:43:07.460]trucks, vehicles, and boats.
- [00:43:13.820]They may seek alleys in dumps where they may find refuge
- [00:43:16.840]under a mattress and between sofa cushions
- [00:43:20.020]or inside discarded furniture and appliances
- [00:43:25.860]Search abandoned industrial,
- [00:43:28.360]commercial and housing properties.
- [00:43:33.710]And that's just a starting point.
- [00:43:35.840]The families and the safety team,
- [00:43:39.310]these are issues that you would wanna address
- [00:43:42.650]with the person you're having a meeting about
- [00:43:45.210]or if you're that person, where would you go?
- [00:43:47.850]Where would you want people to look?
- [00:43:49.910]So these safety plan meetings are not limited
- [00:43:53.370]to the less independent people.
- [00:43:55.550]More independent people, even if you're alone,
- [00:43:58.280]should have a checklist and go through it for yourself
- [00:44:00.640]to prepare a handout for yourself and for people
- [00:44:05.170]that you know and trust, just in case.
- [00:44:09.200]So it's just not limited to the less independent folks,
- [00:44:14.560]any of these issues.
- [00:44:17.140]I was blessed to work in tandem with a retired RCMP corporal
- [00:44:22.950]whose background near the end of his career,
- [00:44:26.570]included developing ways to interview
- [00:44:30.420]people with invisible intellectual,
- [00:44:33.940]and so-called hidden disabilities such as autism.
- [00:44:37.300]So they could get a more fair shake
- [00:44:39.470]in the criminal justice system as a victim,
- [00:44:42.400]which is more likely.
- [00:44:44.640]You're twice as likely to be a victim
- [00:44:46.400]if you're autistic than a typical person.
- [00:44:51.220]And you're no more likely to commit a crime
- [00:44:54.460]than a typical person.
- [00:44:57.720]So Walter Colst worked in this role
- [00:45:02.530]of a family school liaison counselor
- [00:45:06.300]in his home province of Alberta in the early 2000s.
- [00:45:11.270]I met him through his work.
- [00:45:14.710]And then he took this job
- [00:45:16.100]after his retirement from the RCMP.
- [00:45:19.520]And it's a unique role.
- [00:45:20.870]It's similar to a school resource officer,
- [00:45:23.140]but it goes beyond.
- [00:45:24.630]It would be a person that could then learn
- [00:45:27.030]about the student at risk with disability
- [00:45:30.440]and then work direct with the family.
- [00:45:33.150]Now there would be a great resource person
- [00:45:36.790]for your safety plan because that's what they would do.
- [00:45:40.250]They would also keep their eye on students with disabilities
- [00:45:43.730]on campus to try and sort out
- [00:45:46.250]and see who they're interacting with,
- [00:45:48.820]where they're interacting to nip stuff in the bud.
- [00:45:52.350]As well as develop a network of people
- [00:45:55.080]that can be their eyes and ears when they're not around.
- [00:45:59.260]Bad guys ain't stupid.
- [00:46:01.720]They're not gonna tease somebody when the teacher's looking.
- [00:46:08.134]They're gonna wait for other opportunities.
- [00:46:09.640]What the greatest place for that to happen?
- [00:46:14.190]Anybody have a clue?
- [00:46:16.120]The bathroom.
- [00:46:17.860]That's where it happens.
- [00:46:19.550]It's the cafeteria when there isn't a lot of scrutiny.
- [00:46:23.530]It's on the bus.
- [00:46:26.380]When there's breaks for unstructured play or recreation,
- [00:46:30.410]that's where it's happening.
- [00:46:32.090]Who could you recruit to be extra eyes and ears?
- [00:46:35.120]Well, that could be among non-teaching staff.
- [00:46:38.810]People to keep the grounds fit and clean.
- [00:46:43.340]Yeah.
- [00:46:45.150]People who may drive students.
- [00:46:47.960]Yeah, that'd be good.
- [00:46:49.970]I'd want them to be in my network of observers,
- [00:46:54.480]also known as informants, maybe.
- [00:46:57.270]That's okay.
- [00:46:58.770]I'm building a network so I can get information.
- [00:47:02.890]They're not gonna do it
- [00:47:03.723]in front of the family school liaison counselors,
- [00:47:06.070]a former RCMP officer.
- [00:47:09.520]Or the SRO or the principal.
- [00:47:11.210]No.
- [00:47:12.690]What about visitors to a campus?
- [00:47:16.220]What about the postal delivery?
- [00:47:18.540]These days, there's a whole lot of them.
- [00:47:21.260]There's Amazon, there's UPS.
- [00:47:28.360]Anybody have any others I'm missing?
- [00:47:31.770]Yeah, FedEx.
- [00:47:33.740]There's all sorts of them out here.
- [00:47:36.330]And schools have the same driver coming in
- [00:47:39.800]day after, day after day.
- [00:47:42.673]And I have interviewed going out my way
- [00:47:44.810]to postal and UPS drivers and ask them,
- [00:47:48.440]knowing that they deliver to these schools.
- [00:47:51.510]How much time a week are you spending on this campus?
- [00:47:55.240]Well, usually the first run
- [00:47:57.277]and then usually I'll come back, once, maybe twice a day.
- [00:48:01.490]So that's maybe 10 times.
- [00:48:03.320]How long do you spend on campus?
- [00:48:05.210]Well, I've gotta get a lot of signatures.
- [00:48:07.310]I may spend 10 minutes at the most on each visit,
- [00:48:12.180]10 times a week.
- [00:48:13.620]Yeah, that's 100 minutes of extra eyes and ears.
- [00:48:18.330]So if I were to recruit them,
- [00:48:20.910]I would want to disclose to them
- [00:48:23.040]who some of the photos of students I believe maybe at risk
- [00:48:28.220]of being teased, bullied, lured into a criminal activity
- [00:48:32.850]and allow them to view those.
- [00:48:36.780]And let me know if any if they see
- [00:48:39.230]anything that looks weird,
- [00:48:40.390]out of place or what they're doing.
- [00:48:42.800]So it's police work.
- [00:48:44.590]It's basically put together a network of observers
- [00:48:50.180]to help keep that student safe.
- [00:48:53.500]So if you can nip some of that in the bud.
- [00:48:55.160]So I'm giving you an example.
- [00:48:59.390]Part of their job would be to work directly with families.
- [00:49:04.090]So if there were issues that are going on school
- [00:49:07.500]as part of their employment,
- [00:49:09.830]they would do outreach to the families
- [00:49:12.580]to basically create safety plans,
- [00:49:15.280]or at least make families aware
- [00:49:19.029]and look for their cooperation.
- [00:49:21.170]So that was part of a report that we wrote
- [00:49:26.600]for autism spectrum quarterly.
- [00:49:30.493]I don't think they public anymore,
- [00:49:32.050]but hey, I still have that.
- [00:49:33.520]If everybody wants it, email me.
- [00:49:36.430]Because it's just as relevant today as it was then.
- [00:49:39.780]Not a lot of people picked up on that role on the school
- [00:49:44.440]at school campus.
- [00:49:45.480]But after so many events and other bad news
- [00:49:48.890]coming out of campus, which, in the big picture,
- [00:49:52.790]it's very small portion, but it continues to happen.
- [00:49:56.099]And in the digital age, misinformation arise
- [00:49:59.371]and things that are spread on the social media
- [00:50:02.550]become a concern.
- [00:50:04.310]So it might be a time to take a second look at the FSLC
- [00:50:08.807]as a bridge between educator, families, and safety.
- [00:50:16.470]Couldn't hurt to take a look.
- [00:50:18.210]Alert, tracking technology.
- [00:50:20.220]There's Project Lifesaver,
- [00:50:22.090]which is radio frequency trackers.
- [00:50:25.120]There are GPS technology that's used.
- [00:50:30.560]RF is the gold standard because it's really true
- [00:50:34.450]old school technology that goes through walls.
- [00:50:37.250]GPS has some hangups.
- [00:50:39.490]It's still pretty solid for alert as well as tracking.
- [00:50:45.540]But as a said earlier, it's the alert.
- [00:50:49.010]It's prevention, it's alert and then it's response.
- [00:50:54.870]It's hard to respond to an incident
- [00:50:56.840]if you're not alerted to it.
- [00:50:58.240]You gotta know something's going on
- [00:51:00.020]or somebody's missing before you can respond.
- [00:51:02.800]And that becomes a trick for the current bat
- [00:51:07.290]to tracking technology.
- [00:51:09.440]Proximity or cell phone towers are also being used
- [00:51:12.820]to help track individuals, but in the future
- [00:51:17.410]and I'll sum that up shortly,
- [00:51:19.740]there will be new technology that already exists
- [00:51:22.319]that used in combination that can enhance
- [00:51:26.730]not only the tracking of, but the alert to,
- [00:51:30.460]as well as using it to inform police
- [00:51:33.070]about the potential of interacting with someone
- [00:51:37.610]who maybe mislabeled as suspicious.
- [00:51:44.090]So school and community awareness campaigns around safety.
- [00:51:48.210]It has to include autistic students
- [00:51:51.840]and it can exclusively include them.
- [00:51:54.380]I would say, always include,
- [00:51:57.340]and then also develop some of this material
- [00:52:01.050]that you can hand out, not only to law enforcement,
- [00:52:04.330]but to your neighbors.
- [00:52:06.327]You include escape routes from campus
- [00:52:10.298]or other community settings.
- [00:52:11.390]It could be for recreation.
- [00:52:14.630]It could be for sporting activities.
- [00:52:17.020]It could be for therapy.
- [00:52:19.210]There are a variety of places that students or young people
- [00:52:23.290]or adults who are autistic could go
- [00:52:26.630]that aren't necessarily the school campus,
- [00:52:30.320]but they are visits that occur on a regular basis.
- [00:52:34.140]So whoever's there, even if it's only an hour,
- [00:52:37.260]but if it's an hour a week or even an hour a month,
- [00:52:40.470]they need to be part of the plan.
- [00:52:42.250]They need to be briefed.
- [00:52:44.530]They need to know what the emergency plan is.
- [00:52:48.400]So emergency ID options could be in a digital format.
- [00:52:56.070]It could be paper, it could be a handout,
- [00:52:58.520]it could be a laminated card.
- [00:52:59.980]It could be all of those as well as more.
- [00:53:03.440]Should be addressed in your plan.
- [00:53:06.160]So when you're putting these together,
- [00:53:07.960]I'm giving you about a whole year's
- [00:53:09.500]worth of stuff to look at.
- [00:53:11.030]You're not gonna do all this one session.
- [00:53:12.910]It would drive you crazy.
- [00:53:14.710]But it would give you themes and topics
- [00:53:17.370]that when you talk about that individual, you can say,
- [00:53:20.000]yeah, I wonder if that might work.
- [00:53:22.090]Include all this.
- [00:53:23.360]It's in your handout and if it isn't, email me,
- [00:53:26.520]I'll provide it to you.
- [00:53:28.810]Your neighbors, in this case,
- [00:53:30.380]in getting information to them,
- [00:53:32.970]your neighbors on a school campus could be other businesses.
- [00:53:36.380]It could be residential homes,
- [00:53:38.330]but it could be an auto dealership.
- [00:53:41.220]It could be a place where you can get food.
- [00:53:43.260]It could be a lawyers office.
- [00:53:45.160]You need to know those people too,
- [00:53:46.740]and then consider whether or not you brief them generically,
- [00:53:50.610]or about a student in particular,
- [00:53:53.090]if there's repeated activity
- [00:53:55.770]that includes wandering off campus.
- [00:53:58.800]So your neighbors can be really good sources
- [00:54:01.410]for extra eyes and ears.
- [00:54:03.630]Tragically, there can be people who are autistic
- [00:54:07.440]who die as a result of wandering.
- [00:54:11.150]It's the resultant.
- [00:54:13.230]There have been people who are autistic
- [00:54:15.580]who have died during interactions with the police.
- [00:54:18.990]Whether they knew that person was autistic or not,
- [00:54:22.980]the crisis emergencies can get really intense.
- [00:54:27.110]So it really begs out for having a relationship
- [00:54:31.630]with the police, if you have to call them.
- [00:54:33.160]So the more they know, the more options that they can have.
- [00:54:38.550]And if those interactions are happening on a regular basis,
- [00:54:42.380]they already know.
- [00:54:43.930]So it isn't a secret anymore.
- [00:54:46.890]So the best thing you could do would be to have
- [00:54:49.110]a positive information sharing relationship.
- [00:54:55.120]Gordy Page was one of the first people I learned about
- [00:54:58.240]when I got into this.
- [00:54:59.820]He walked away from a group home in Grand Rapids, Michigan
- [00:55:05.254]31 years ago.
- [00:55:07.760]And an FBI agent there called me and said,
- [00:55:10.107]"Is it okay if we give your name and number to the dad?
- [00:55:13.700]Because he's distraught."
- [00:55:14.950]I talked to the dad for the next six or eight times
- [00:55:20.160]over the next 15 years or so.
- [00:55:21.910]And he still, every time I talked to him,
- [00:55:24.870]believe that it was his fault for putting his son
- [00:55:26.950]in that home, thought it was his fault for not having
- [00:55:33.510]a better plan in place.
- [00:55:35.570]That he grieved for his son.
- [00:55:37.350]He held out hope.
- [00:55:38.327]"I know Gordy's out there.
- [00:55:40.640]And one day we'll see him again."
- [00:55:41.860]Well, dad died in January of 2018
- [00:55:45.340]and Gordy's still out here.
- [00:55:46.680]He's cold case.
- [00:55:48.260]No one knows what happened to Gordy.
- [00:55:51.210]So I'll never forget that
- [00:55:52.890]because I was just starting out in this
- [00:55:54.960]and then talking to his dad
- [00:55:57.200]while my son was eight years old.
- [00:56:00.280]Bothered me too.
- [00:56:01.113]It still does.
- [00:56:01.946]Gordy, come on out if you're out there,.
- [00:56:05.070]Alicia Navarro has been missing for about 2 1/2 years.
- [00:56:08.660]In her case, she is more independent.
- [00:56:11.580]Of course she's still autistic,
- [00:56:13.630]but she would be more of a level one who was lured,
- [00:56:17.560]the investigators believe, by online predators,
- [00:56:21.340]either at a gaming site
- [00:56:22.710]or in the social chat room to come on out.
- [00:56:25.760]And she left behind all her gears, her cell phone,
- [00:56:28.550]everything else, walked out of her home.
- [00:56:30.000]Has never been seen since.
- [00:56:31.920]And that happened in September of 2019.
- [00:56:36.380]So it's coming up the three years in the Phoenix, Arizona.
- [00:56:40.550]These are just a few of many out here.
- [00:56:44.190]Benji Rapoza went missing in the Big Island of Hawaii
- [00:56:52.220]right before Christmas of 2019.
- [00:56:54.680]So it's about a little over two years for Benji.
- [00:56:58.556]And I don't need to explain this here, do I?
- [00:57:01.060]Ryan, if we can work real hard,
- [00:57:04.800]somebody hopefully out here knows where you're at
- [00:57:08.080]and maybe identify him.
- [00:57:10.830]I know the police haven't given up.
- [00:57:12.310]The FBI haven't given up and neither should we.
- [00:57:17.040]And if anything, perhaps Ryan's experience
- [00:57:20.170]can really help forge together
- [00:57:22.510]the law enforcement public safety factors from all around
- [00:57:26.170]the state of Nebraska to get that curriculum together.
- [00:57:31.330]Work a little extra hard.
- [00:57:33.850]The emotional toll for you, Ryan is out here.
- [00:57:39.900]We're all pulling for you.
- [00:57:42.130]And the more we talk about you and get you to out here,
- [00:57:45.030]better it off it is for all of us.
- [00:57:48.600]So the emotional toll is real.
- [00:57:54.340]My training started including the slang of autism.
- [00:57:57.520]Maybe four years ago around there,
- [00:58:00.970]it became something that I knew that could help.
- [00:58:05.090]I didn't know how much, but the FBI heard me speak.
- [00:58:09.030]They asked me to speak.
- [00:58:10.030]Their child abduction rapid deployment units,
- [00:58:14.090]and they're all around the country.
- [00:58:15.440]They have agents trained in special techniques
- [00:58:18.580]to find children of tender age who go missing.
- [00:58:22.270]In this case, autistic children.
- [00:58:24.630]And so they asked me to brief them up on search and rescue
- [00:58:28.100]and some of their issues surrounding missing children,
- [00:58:31.660]which I did do.
- [00:58:33.010]They let the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
- [00:58:35.660]know what they were up to and recommended, they said,
- [00:58:39.027]"This guy is right in Florida.
- [00:58:40.264]He'll help you out."
- [00:58:41.380]I did.
- [00:58:42.289]And during the year of 2021,
- [00:58:45.580]a new training for telecommunicators at 911 call centers
- [00:58:51.380]about how to ask in a nice way,
- [00:58:54.720]but informally discover whether a missing child
- [00:58:59.170]that's being reported is autistic.
- [00:59:01.230]Because if they are,
- [00:59:03.200]then certain protocols can be kicked in.
- [00:59:06.760]But they have to know the missing child
- [00:59:09.620]was autistic before it happens.
- [00:59:11.190]So there's a bit of a police report
- [00:59:14.540]on the new training.
- [00:59:17.750]I'm making it available through police contacts here.
- [00:59:21.970]It's at no charge at this point,
- [00:59:24.250]it's still open online course.
- [00:59:27.420]And here's a bit about--
- [00:59:28.850]The Department of Law Enforcement investigator
- [00:59:31.270]Chad Hoffman says this is a very real issue
- [00:59:34.630]that they wanna try and help solve.
- [00:59:36.550]What we found through just dealing with missing kids
- [00:59:40.620]and dealing with the other police organizations out there,
- [00:59:44.990]that there was some training that was lacking
- [00:59:48.590]when it pertained to children that go missing
- [00:59:50.990]that have autism.
- [00:59:52.200]They're using an enhanced missing child alert
- [00:59:54.370]with a wireless emergency alert system that will focus
- [00:59:56.999]on the neighborhood where the child went missing.
- [01:00:00.240]But he says not 911 telecommunicators have to ask parents
- [01:00:04.260]if their child has autism.
- [01:00:06.180]So the FDLE can be contacted
- [01:00:08.660]and the alert will be sent out sooner.
- [01:00:10.980]So we've gone from a process that might take
- [01:00:13.450]two, three, four, five hours to a process
- [01:00:15.950]that they'll take literally 10, 15, 20 minutes to do.
- [01:00:21.070]Yeah, so it is a matter of seconds.
- [01:00:23.870]And it's part of the theme of the FBI's unit.
- [01:00:27.770]Seconds count.
- [01:00:29.150]So anything we can do to get the search and rescue out
- [01:00:31.710]to as many people get more eyes and ears,
- [01:00:34.900]and the trigger needs to be the disclosure.
- [01:00:37.230]So the disclosure and learn the slang of autism.
- [01:00:39.990]They all came together.
- [01:00:41.280]And now, it's a very positive development
- [01:00:45.920]for all of us out here.
- [01:00:47.620]So I will provide that training link.
- [01:00:50.010]The FBI has an autism questionnaire that could make families
- [01:00:54.750]feel uncomfortable as if you might have had a hand
- [01:00:57.110]in the disappearance.
- [01:00:58.500]That's what they're trying to determine.
- [01:01:00.580]So the line of questioning will make you feel uncomfortable,
- [01:01:03.480]but it's not that they suspect you.
- [01:01:05.670]They just wanna deal you out.
- [01:01:07.520]So to ask these kinds of questions
- [01:01:09.440]that will make you feel uncomfortable is protocol.
- [01:01:13.590]So we shouldn't get offended by it.
- [01:01:18.540]Law enforcement wants to find the missing child.
- [01:01:22.400]Call 911 immediately.
- [01:01:25.160]It's gotta happen straight up real quick.
- [01:01:28.010]Fair justice concerns are real for more independent
- [01:01:33.450]and less independent folks on the autism spectrum.
- [01:01:37.050]The con games, the bullying, coercion that can go on
- [01:01:40.500]online or up live in person are real
- [01:01:44.960]in many of our sons, daughters, friends, autistic people
- [01:01:51.690]are caught in this web of people
- [01:01:53.620]that will use friendly approaches
- [01:01:56.230]or confidence schemes to lure you in
- [01:01:59.010]and then involve you in a scheme to steal money
- [01:02:02.650]or deliver dope or what have you.
- [01:02:06.110]This is something that we need
- [01:02:08.440]to pay attention to and address.
- [01:02:11.400]We also need to understand that safe and legal sex education
- [01:02:16.040]doesn't grow on trees, and it's not formalized in school.
- [01:02:20.000]It's the stuff that we learned from our peer groups.
- [01:02:23.140]And if you don't have a peer group,
- [01:02:24.490]you're not going learn these lessons.
- [01:02:27.550]I've asked all sorts of law enforcers,
- [01:02:29.940]raise your hand if dad taught you
- [01:02:31.560]how to do the wild thing with somebody.
- [01:02:34.750]No hands went up.
- [01:02:36.500]'Cause dads don't do that.
- [01:02:37.700]Moms don't do that very much either.
- [01:02:40.920]It's an uncomfortable subject matter
- [01:02:43.600]of talking about safe in legal ways
- [01:02:46.470]to express your human sexuality.
- [01:02:49.470]But if you lack that education,
- [01:02:51.310]then you can become a victim at a higher rate,
- [01:02:54.910]or even become a perpetrator.
- [01:02:58.420]Even if you didn't intend to do it,
- [01:03:00.190]just through the lack of knowledge alone.
- [01:03:03.210]So we need to do a better job.
- [01:03:04.880]And I would put that definitely on the list
- [01:03:08.091]of a child, even at five or six years old.
- [01:03:11.040]You need to be starting to think about ways
- [01:03:13.250]that they can be informed about safe and legal ways
- [01:03:17.860]to express their sexuality,
- [01:03:19.770]which is just a part of everyday life.
- [01:03:22.610]But if you don't know the rules, bad things can happen.
- [01:03:26.690]So what's next for us?
- [01:03:29.150]Practice your plan with people you trust.
- [01:03:32.140]Look to the police model of a group
- [01:03:35.930]of safety-related folks.
- [01:03:38.200]They're to serve and protect.
- [01:03:40.410]They train up, train up, train up for stuff,
- [01:03:42.580]because they know they're gonna lack some of those skills
- [01:03:46.210]or they'll diminish, not forever,
- [01:03:47.860]but in the heat of the moment, they'll diminish.
- [01:03:50.710]So if it's good for them, it's good for us.
- [01:03:53.160]And we need to do it ourselves.
- [01:03:54.750]Hence, the regular meetings.
- [01:03:57.907]The 5G era can include artificial intelligence.
- [01:04:02.530]Wouldn't it be cool to have a device
- [01:04:05.030]that a any one of us could wear,
- [01:04:07.450]but especially a vulnerable autistic kid, teen or an adult
- [01:04:13.700]that would alert law enforcement of their presence?
- [01:04:18.570]Something that could be as simple
- [01:04:20.900]as the radio frequency ID chips
- [01:04:25.380]that you find in your credit card.
- [01:04:26.850]So why can you wave your credit card near the pay station?
- [01:04:30.540]'Cause it's a proximity transmitter.
- [01:04:33.450]It's not wireless or anything else, it's proximity.
- [01:04:36.700]And I've tested out the ones they use in the stores
- [01:04:40.010]to mark labels and whatnot.
- [01:04:42.670]I've gotten up to 42 feet away from the, the RFID chip
- [01:04:47.470]and it went off.
- [01:04:49.780]I'm thinking of something that will go off
- [01:04:52.280]at 90 or a 100 feet and have build
- [01:04:54.904]into every patrol vehicle.
- [01:04:57.450]So if they get within 90 or 100 feet,
- [01:05:00.600]it'll let them know that someone
- [01:05:02.490]who has volunteered information is nearby.
- [01:05:05.840]Doesn't mean anything other than then they're nearby.
- [01:05:08.360]Link it to artificial intelligence.
- [01:05:10.930]So anytime a property crime or any kind of crime
- [01:05:15.230]is committed in a neighborhood,
- [01:05:16.840]it would also link to that same system.
- [01:05:20.816]So you, as police officers, would know within the same area,
- [01:05:24.410]we're looking for burglary suspects
- [01:05:26.650]are people who are vulnerable
- [01:05:28.020]because of their condition in life.
- [01:05:30.040]And artificial intelligence could do that right now.
- [01:05:32.660]There's no waiting for that.
- [01:05:35.350]So it could also be fused together different technologies
- [01:05:41.110]to not only alert, but also track.
- [01:05:45.500]So the things that Project Lifesaver only tracks,
- [01:05:49.120]the alert has to be called in devices shortly.
- [01:05:52.870]If we want it to happen, could not only alert,
- [01:05:55.910]but if you went beyond a border,
- [01:05:59.040]it would then let people searchers know
- [01:06:01.780]that you're now missing and this is where you're at.
- [01:06:06.570]It could save a lot of lives.
- [01:06:08.450]And so technology will be our friends in the future.
- [01:06:12.490]Training and policy.
- [01:06:15.300]Training and policy is what I was brought out here to do.
- [01:06:19.240]We trained the police on Wednesday.
- [01:06:22.040]Yesterday, a session here at the conference
- [01:06:24.340]and another one today and then this session.
- [01:06:26.680]There's a reason by that.
- [01:06:28.010]It was a policy decision to bring me here.
- [01:06:30.660]And then the training resulted,
- [01:06:32.440]hopefully some more of the policy developing
- [01:06:35.150]a more standard curriculum for the state
- [01:06:38.830]will come as a result.
- [01:06:40.840]So we're all different.
- [01:06:42.420]We all act or react differently and that's okay,
- [01:06:46.280]but we need to include autistic people,
- [01:06:49.750]meet them whenever we can.
- [01:06:51.350]Here would be a great model for starting that out.
- [01:06:55.400]According to the National Center
- [01:06:56.600]on Criminal Justice and Disability,
- [01:06:58.700]people who have an intellectual or developmental disability
- [01:07:01.640]like autism are seven times more likely to have an encounter
- [01:07:05.320]with law enforcement and are also twice as likely
- [01:07:08.140]to be then victims of a violent crime.
- [01:07:10.210]And some departments require training programs
- [01:07:12.980]and many first responders complete them voluntarily
- [01:07:15.470]on their own, but training is not required by any Ohio law.
- [01:07:19.990]Taneisha Cordell, by this morning from Cleveland clinic,
- [01:07:22.560]with a new program, working to bridge that gap.
- [01:07:25.610]And this is a good one, Taneisha.
- [01:07:29.610]It really is so, so, so needed.
- [01:07:32.760]It's interesting.
- [01:07:33.593]This outreach program really just started out
- [01:07:36.902]as a first time, one time only event.
- [01:07:38.720]Now the organizers are expanding,
- [01:07:40.900]taking it a step further in order to provide
- [01:07:43.390]more opportunities to build those positive relationships
- [01:07:46.450]between police officers and those with autism.
- [01:07:50.430]Twice a month, students ages five to 22 meet here.
- [01:07:54.970]The Cleveland Clinics Learner School for Autism.
- [01:07:58.070]They need us, they need us.
- [01:07:59.910]The charter non-public school,
- [01:08:01.960]giving these students the resources and confidence
- [01:08:04.940]to overcome their personal battles.
- [01:08:07.390]So many of our kids hear something new,
- [01:08:10.500]hear something that's different.
- [01:08:12.060]The school staff aware of that fear.
- [01:08:14.240]When we're training to deal with them,
- [01:08:17.150]we're training to deal with them when they're in crisis.
- [01:08:20.050]The fear often felt
- [01:08:21.300]in a crisis involving police.
- [01:08:23.750]Police officers frequently come
- [01:08:24.960]when there is an emergency situation.
- [01:08:27.130]And some of our kids may not understand those things.
- [01:08:29.700]It's why they're now bringing officers
- [01:08:31.900]into the classroom.
- [01:08:32.980]Part of a new program so new, it doesn't even have a name.
- [01:08:36.370]They are looking forward to having us
- [01:08:38.280]and we're looking forward to going.
- [01:08:40.230]So I think that's what surprised me most.
- [01:08:42.940]Those officers spending time and having fun
- [01:08:45.610]with the students, teaching them about safety,
- [01:08:48.010]how to ask for help and how to identify different officers.
- [01:08:52.650]We have to train to engage in right and embrace as well.
- [01:08:57.630]The officers learning as well.
- [01:08:59.910]We have some kiddos who communicate
- [01:09:02.080]who are nonverbal or communicate with gestures
- [01:09:06.240]or with a speech generating device.
- [01:09:08.750]And so the officers
- [01:09:09.957]have been able to just have them have experiences
- [01:09:13.990]communicating with our kids in those different ways.
- [01:09:17.100]Experience is so vital for both sides.
- [01:09:19.690]This school's team hopes other local communities
- [01:09:22.410]take on similar programs,
- [01:09:24.100]making it part of officer training.
- [01:09:26.470]A way to help those with autism
- [01:09:28.410]or the underserved community, as some would say, thrive,
- [01:09:32.710]no matter the real life circumstances they encounter.
- [01:09:35.460]They've made a lasting impact on us.
- [01:09:37.690]They're a sensitive community,
- [01:09:39.100]but they're a loving community and having the ability
- [01:09:42.300]to interact with them no matter what part of the spectrum
- [01:09:44.770]that they're on is a lovely thing.
- [01:09:50.720]All right, now, Corporal Drayton,
- [01:09:52.550]the officer you just heard from, she's not messing around.
- [01:09:54.840]She says she's already met
- [01:09:56.310]with all five Cleveland police districts
- [01:09:59.200]to talk about how to get more officers involved
- [01:10:02.530]in this program.
- [01:10:03.510]She hopes it all happens
- [01:10:05.010]once more COVID restrictions are lifted.
- [01:10:07.120]I'm Taneisha Cordell, News 5.
- [01:10:09.784]Yeah, and this report
- [01:10:10.617]was just from a few months ago out of the Cleveland area.
- [01:10:14.690]I just couldn't think of a better report for anyone
- [01:10:19.130]in law enforcement to see after a training
- [01:10:22.710]and then to get command level two
- [01:10:25.100]approve a program such as that.
- [01:10:27.080]They're not hanging around for an hour.
- [01:10:29.200]There are no bells and whistles, no clowns,
- [01:10:31.650]no suites, no entertainment.
- [01:10:34.550]It's just cops hanging around in interacting with kids
- [01:10:37.210]with autism and the two of them learning from each other.
- [01:10:40.130]I mean, it's as simple as that.
- [01:10:42.350]Needs to be re be repeated,
- [01:10:44.410]but short duration, higher frequency.
- [01:10:48.690]That's all.
- [01:10:49.710]It's not that difficult.
- [01:10:53.570]Including autistic people whenever, wherever we can.
- [01:10:57.370]Of course, need to end the stigma
- [01:11:00.560]and end the need for masking.
- [01:11:02.400]I see that happening into the new year
- [01:11:08.231]or beyond my lifetime here on this planet.
- [01:11:11.760]I like this planet.
- [01:11:12.690]It's cool.
- [01:11:13.950]I hope the next one's cool too.
- [01:11:17.320]I don't know how long I'm gonna be on this one.
- [01:11:20.370]But what about policing and criminal justice careers
- [01:11:23.270]for people with autism?
- [01:11:25.120]I can report that over the last three months,
- [01:11:28.960]I have met a police veteran
- [01:11:31.910]in command level policing in America,
- [01:11:35.900]who is now out about his autism.
- [01:11:39.410]He's serving out by the agency that he works for.
- [01:11:44.420]They're behind it.
- [01:11:46.350]In the United Kingdom,
- [01:11:47.760]they have the UK Autistic Police Officers Association
- [01:11:53.290]with their own website in interactions.
- [01:11:56.800]So that's a hint into the future that this could be one heck
- [01:11:59.890]of a good job for somebody who stays on topic
- [01:12:04.380]maybe as an intelligence analyst.
- [01:12:06.530]Guess who's using autistic people to analyze
- [01:12:11.180]policing and six state security intelligence?
- [01:12:15.370]The IDF.
- [01:12:16.940]Anybody know who the IDF are?
- [01:12:19.770]The Israeli Defense Force.
- [01:12:21.510]The Israeli army.
- [01:12:22.980]Perhaps the world's leading security specialist
- [01:12:26.164]is the state of Israel.
- [01:12:28.960]And for obvious reasons.
- [01:12:30.300]They're really good at it.
- [01:12:31.960]They have been making decisions to hire
- [01:12:34.080]and seek out autistic people to analyze intelligence.
- [01:12:38.900]So this is the future that only we can help along
- [01:12:43.140]and we can start by the safety planning for the people
- [01:12:46.880]that we know and love.
- [01:12:49.890]It can happen.
- [01:12:50.830]Listen to autistic people whenever you can,
- [01:12:54.600]because they have the answers that we need to hear
- [01:12:58.200]and learn from.
- [01:13:11.427](lively music)
- [01:13:23.632]So I have a rather mild form of autism.
- [01:13:27.790]It is the kind where I'm able to talk to you
- [01:13:32.500]where I could have been worse and not been able to talk.
- [01:13:39.906]You need to learn about it.
- [01:13:44.891]They need to learn about it.
- [01:13:51.450]The thing about autism, what it means to have autism,
- [01:13:56.322]talk about autism.
- [01:13:57.880]I was diagnosed when I was 3 1/2.
- [01:14:00.700]And when I was diagnosed, I couldn't talk.
- [01:14:04.070]I couldn't walk.
- [01:14:05.200]I couldn't do anything.
- [01:14:06.220]Just because a person has autism
- [01:14:10.100]doesn't mean that they're bad.
- [01:14:11.700]It's just that they don't communicate
- [01:14:15.040]as well as a normal person.
- [01:14:17.820]Give them enough time to answer and don't don't rush them
- [01:14:25.230]or if they say something inappropriate,
- [01:14:30.499]don't get offended by it.
- [01:14:33.150]When I'm encountering with an officer,
- [01:14:36.360]I have to make sure that I'm not making
- [01:14:38.620]any sudden movements.
- [01:14:40.581]When I'm in the car,
- [01:14:41.710]I can't make any sudden noises.
- [01:14:44.520]I can't just talk and look for something
- [01:14:46.775]while the officer is searching.
- [01:14:50.600]In the car or something like that,
- [01:14:52.240]or going through your pockets.
- [01:14:55.480]You don't wanna do that.
- [01:14:56.890]You wanna just stay there, calm, quiet
- [01:15:00.800]until everything, until the situation is handled.
- [01:15:04.340]Then you can move.
- [01:15:05.350]Unless the officer tells you,
- [01:15:06.477]"Okay, you can move now."
- [01:15:10.380]Don't move until unless he tells you.
- [01:15:12.920]If people wanna say derogatory things about me
- [01:15:16.770]with a disability, go ahead, come at me.
- [01:15:19.050]But you know what?
- [01:15:20.520]I'm gonna kill you with kindness.
- [01:15:21.730]I'm gonna tell you like it is.
- [01:15:23.280]I'm going to motivate you, encourage you,
- [01:15:26.420]to your dreams because people can choose the dreams
- [01:15:28.960]and then can choose society.
- [01:15:31.240]It's just people in this world need to give us
- [01:15:34.740]an opportunity to do so.
- [01:15:36.460]They to accept us who we are, embrace us.
- [01:15:39.355]This video, let's do it.
- [01:15:40.999]Let's do it for autism.
- [01:15:44.860](gentle music)
- [01:15:53.450]Yeah and just, as a final tip to everybody,
- [01:15:56.720]when you're interacting with folks on the spectrum
- [01:15:59.740]or anybody else, if you want clarity, keep it simple.
- [01:16:04.570]And just when you think you're simple,
- [01:16:06.730]you're just not simple enough.
- [01:16:13.470]How old are you now, Jonathan?
- [01:16:15.091]15.
- [01:16:17.369]How old? 15.
- [01:16:18.996]15. 15.
- [01:16:20.542]Okay and when did you turn 15?
- [01:16:24.080]On my birthday.
- [01:16:25.659](audience applauding)
- [01:16:27.130]Yeah.
- [01:16:28.400]I thought I was being cool there.
- [01:16:31.320]I was implying that I wanted to hear the dates.
- [01:16:34.590]But he actually answered the question
- [01:16:36.310]exactly the way I asked it.
- [01:16:38.260]I wasn't is simple enough.
- [01:16:40.520]Jonathan had it right.
- [01:16:41.630]If you didn't know Jonathan, and he gave you that answer,
- [01:16:44.080]what would you think of him?
- [01:16:46.350]Smart aleck?
- [01:16:47.630]Yeah, right.
- [01:16:48.770]So Jonathan's right.
- [01:16:52.380]He was absolutely right on the money, but give it our best.
- [01:16:56.230]It's okay to make mistakes.
- [01:16:57.830]And it's been my pleasure and honor.
- [01:17:00.290]Thank you guys for inviting me here back to Nebraska
- [01:17:03.650]after all these years.
- [01:17:05.187]Had a lot of fun with you.
- [01:17:06.690]I hope you enjoyed the conference.
- [01:17:08.850]I'm hanging for questions.
- [01:17:12.550]Tonight's lottery numbers, whatever you like.
- [01:17:16.410]But thank you, all.
- [01:17:17.744](audience applauding)
- [01:17:29.110]If you wanna come up here and get a card or whatever,
- [01:17:31.980]I'm hanging, but I'm turning off
- [01:17:34.520]the microphone now. (laughs)
- [01:18:23.167](lively music)
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