Autism training for emergency workers urged
With reports of autism on the rise nationally, a new coalition wants to train area police officers, firefighters, and other emergency responders on how to deal with people who have the disorder.
The group also is assembling a database on autistic people in the region, drawn from information supplied by families. It will include information -- such as a person's ability to communicate and their favorite places to visit -- that could help emergency workers locate or calm someone in distress.
The Autism and Law Enforcement Educational Coalition was formed early this year by Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating in collaboration with the Family Autism Center, a program of the South Norfolk County Association for Retarded Citizens.
Julie O'Brien, the center's director, said the Autism Society of America recently calculated that one in 166 children in the United States has autism, based on data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "So the likelihood of a first responder coming across a person with autism spectrum disorder is quite high," she said.
O'Brien said the training will be aimed at avoiding the misunderstandings -- and potential tragedies -- that can occur when an emergency responder fails to recognize a person has autism.
Often, autistic individuals can exhibit behaviors that could prompt an untrained emergency worker to conclude the person is drunk or purposely hostile, O'Brien said. People with the disorder may be unable to communicate or repeat words spoken to them, may fail to follow commands, or may make odd hand gestures, she said.
Ann Jankowski of Canton, whose 8-year-old son, Daniel, has autism, said she welcomes the program. Emergency workers need to know "how to approach a child because sometimes these kids don't have very good eye contact and limited language skills," Jankowski said. "If you approach them and stand in front of them and get them to look you in the eye . . . it gives them a little time to process the information and sometimes you can get them to respond."
Jankowski said the database also would be beneficial. "Kids with autism can be wanderers," she said, noting that her son often follows a wooded path behind their house to a favorite stream, where he likes to throw rocks. She said providing police with information about a child's habits could prove invaluable in an emergency.
The autism education coalition is an outgrowth of a training program that Keating's office and the Family Autism Center sponsored for about 70 area police officers and firefighters in November. Keating said he is not aware of any tragedies that have occurred in this region due to an emergency worker's lack of autism awareness.
"This might be an instance of . . . doing something before a tragedy, before a life is lost," he said.
With the help of a $5,000 grant from the Dedham Institute for Savings, the coalition is developing a video and other materials for its training sessions, which are set to start this fall. Among those leading the training sessions will be Norwood Police Sergeant Martin F. Baker and Westwood Fire Lieutenant Bill Cannata, both of whom have first-hand experience with autism: Baker's son, Drew, 10, and Cannata's son, Ted, 13, have the disorder.
Baker said several incidents he was involved in prior to his son's diagnosis demonstrated the value of more education about autism. He said he and another officer once confronted a teenager who had broken into a florist shop. The boy's failure to comply with the officers' verbal commands caused them to draw their guns. They were eventually able to handcuff the suspect without harm. At the station, they learned from his family that the boy was autistic. He had entered the store because he liked balloons and saw some of them inside, they said.
"He had no idea what we wanted him to do" during the incident, Baker said, "because he doesn't understand . . . appropriate behavior. He wasn't processing the information right."
Cannata said firefighters may sometimes answer a medical call at a home where a parent is ill and a child has autism. Being aware of the disorder can help them care for the child, they said.
When responding to a fire rescue, he said, a firefighter could be helped in locating a child with autism by understanding that "these kids will seek their place of refuge in their rooms a lot of times." Baker said he will advise officers to be patient and calm in dealing with someone they believe is autistic.
"It takes time . . . Don't immediately try to force yourself on them. You might have to take a step back and talk to them," he said.
Keating said the goal is "to make a safer situation for everyone." 