[...] Arrested While Autistic [...]

[...] Arrested While Autistic [...]

Excuse me if I don’t clutch my pearls over the illumination you provide to this story, Ms. DuBois. Heavens to heathcliff, an ALCHOLIC BEVERAGE you say? Yes, that justifies tasing an autistic young man.
Sorry, I am sick to death of Every. Single. Thing. the cops do these days being justified because they can’t discern the difference between a threat and anything else.

A friend of mine, a man in his late thirties who lives in suburban TX, had an encounter. I’ll call him “Alex.” A cop came to Alex’s house when he and his sister were home and began asking questions about Alex’s cousin. Alex didn’t know where his cousin was or about any criminal activities the guy had engaged in, so he answered the cop’s questions brusquely and truthfully. The cop accused him of being belligerent.

“I’m not belligerent,” said Alex. “I’m autistic.”

That made the cop even angrier. The sister backed Alex up, explaining that the behaviors the cop thought were belligerent were actually normal for Alex. She and Alex later mused to each other that the cop had been legitimately acting belligerent.

Eventually it became apparent that the cop’s suspect was not the cousin at all, but someone with the same name. Poor Alex was badly shaken by the incident and talked about it for days. What’s even worse is that he’s a big man who wears a beard and dresses in black, and he’s often been accused of having a frightening or intimidating presence. So he’s a little sensitive to that sort of thing.

I’ve read about this story previously and it’s outrageous the way this young man was treated and continues to be treated. Just really, really disgraceful behavior on the part of the police.

Lisa, shame on you for sending your vulnerable daughter on a flight as an unaccompanied minor! What in the world were you thinking?? AND to expect sympathy here? I am surprised you weren’t charged with endangerment or neglect! Just because there wasn’t a space on the form doesn’t give you the right to leave your 11 year old disabled daughter in that position.

My (usually) very high-functioning 13-yo autistic son had an encounter with the police just a few weeks ago while he was out walking. He had made a gesture toward a car that was misinterpreted, and the driver stopped the car, threatened him, and spat in his face. An officer came over to them, but when my son tried to tell her what had happened, she said she “knew he was lying” because he made no eye contact. He was terrified at that point, and when she started putting words in his mouth like “So you did … to his car, right?” he just started rocking, looking at the ground, and saying “yeah” to everything, which is what he does when he is upset. The whole thing was completely mishandled because she had no idea that what she was seeing were typical autistic behaviors. The assault on my son was never addressed, he was bewildered by the accusations against him, and he was very traumatized by the experience.

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My son is autistic, not high-functioning either, which is much worse. He went into the house next-door and wandered around. Believe it or not, they called the police and we had to take him to a psychiatrist for a year, send written reports into the police, etc. The state police officer didn’t act at all as though this was any different from a normal person breaking and entering and we were extremely concerned. They could have pressed charges if they wanted to and we would be in the judicial system with a boy who wouldn’t even know what was going on. Autistic people are very easily agitated and can act out in a sort of tantrum. Most are not very verbally or socially adept and if the police don’t take the time to discern that they have a developmental problem, they could easily end up in jail. They wouldn’t last a day. Anyone with an autistic child worries about this kind of thing incessantly.

Just want to inquire as to whether or not Autism Speaks has been contacted regarding Richard Latson of North Virginia. This is such a travisty! My grandson is autistic and barely verbal and my heart just cries to think of such trauma occurring in his life. Ms. Alexander we will be praying because with God NOTHING is impossible to those who believe. We just need a miracle – the heart of the king is in the hands of God. We see even more of a need for awareness! It’s getting better, but obviously,from the previous blogs, it’s still not good enough.