Know the Signs
Law enforcement officers across the United States face the challenge daily of interacting with the public. During these interactions, officers often rely on their training, so the outcome is positive for both the officer and the person they are interacting with.
Officers interact with citizens from all different kinds of backgrounds. They will inevitably interact with those from any walks of life, including citizens with special needs, such as autism.
“Autism is a developmental disorder with symptoms that appear within the first three years of life,” according to the Autism Research Institute. “Its formal diagnostic name is autism spectrum disorder. The word ‘spectrum’ indicates that autism appears in different forms with varying levels of severity. That means that everyone with autism experiences their own unique strengths, symptoms, and challenges.”
In Kentucky, it is estimated that there are nearly 83,000 autistic people, according to a report by the Kentucky Advisory Council on Autism.
Members of the law enforcement community must be educated on best practices for interacting with those with special needs, said Tisha Collins, a licensed professional clinical counselor with Promise Community Health in Somerset and a member of the Kentucky Crisis Intervention Team (CIT).
In the past several years, the state’s law enforcement community has made great strides in educating officers about interacting with the special needs community.
Tisha Collins (Photo by Michael Moore)
“I feel like it has [improved], and I think the need is growing,” Collins said. “I always tell officers that if you have not interacted with someone on the spectrum, you’re going to; It’s just a matter of time.”
For Collins, it is a subject near and dear to her heart as her adult son is on the spectrum. That is how she became involved with CIT in 2018.
“Most officers want to know how to do their jobs, and how to do it better (than predecessors) when dealing with these individuals,” Collins continued. “They’re more receptive to it.”
Jamestown Police Chief Jeffery Kerns agreed with Collins’ assessment of the importance of special needs training for law enforcement.
“When I first became an officer in 1997, I don’t recall any of that being mentioned,” Kerns, whose son is also autistic, said. “The training now is through the roof. I took every in-service that had training on it.
“(The training) is important,” Kerns continued. “It seems to be something we’re dealing with more and more. You see those with special needs having more contact with law enforcement. I’ve tried to educate all the people I work with because it is important to know how to interact with those folks.”
Recognition
An autistic person may only demonstrate behaviors indicative of the disorder that officers can pick up on quickly.
Those could include poor eye contact or stimming. Characteristics of stimming may include unusual hand gestures, hand flapping and head movements such as twitching. Additionally, it is not uncommon for autistic people to quote movies or television shows using a voice and inflections that sound very similar to the actor playing the part, Collins said.
Other signs demonstrated by those with autism include repeating verbatim what an officer has asked them to do.
Other behavioral characteristics include:
A difficult time interpreting personal space. Some are tactile and love to give hugs, while others do not like being touched.
Everything is black and white, meaning they’re often matter of fact or literal. When asking them questions, Collins suggests being very literal. “You may need to rephrase it, if they don’t immediately respond,” she said.
They need time to process the questions asked.
The inability to process multiple tasks at one time. Provide one task at a time with time to complete each task.
An inability to recognize sarcasm.
An inability to recognize social cues.
They may have a unique cadence to their voice.
On top of behavioral signs, Collins also said many things can trigger an autistic person into uncomfortable situations should an officer interact with them. Those can include the use of lights and sirens or a loud tone of voice.
“Those can be very difficult for those on the spectrum to deal with and manage,” Collins explained. “Those stimuli could produce an overreaction.”
School Resource Officers
Officers are most likely to interact with special needs people in schools.
“(Law enforcement) has a unique opportunity because they’re in the school all day, every day,” Collins explained. “So, they interact with the students and teachers, and they can talk with the teacher to find out how to manage those kids better. I encourage them to get to know those kids; if they know them, it will go a long way in resolving the situation quickly.”
State School Security Marshal Ben Wilcox said the Department of Criminal Justice Training’s three-tier SRO instruction features blocks of training geared toward special needs.
“The School Safety and Resiliency Act of 2019 requires a block of training that addresses “understanding students with special needs,” he said. “That block is taught in SRO I, which is the first portion of the 120-hour SRO certification. The block is designed to help SROs identify disabilities and work with the students who have those disabilities.”
Additionally, DOCJT has blocks of training about special needs in its leadership courses – Police Executive Command Course/Sheriff’s Executive Command Course (PECC/SECC) and Current Leadership Issues for Mid-Level Executives (CLIME), Leadership Section Supervisor Larry Conley said.
“A class was presented in 2022 to PECC and CLIME by the Kentucky Autism Training Center,” Conley said. “Topics covered included developing an understanding of what Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is, strategies, and communication methods to enable conversations with people who have ASD. Attendees were also provided information to identify strategies to prevent challenging behaviors in those with ASD. Finally, they offered state and national resources for first responders to support people with ASD.”
Stickers and Seatbelt Covers
As a best practices for interacting with those with special needs, several Kentucky agencies offer stickers on cars and home windows that will alert police and other first responders that they may be meeting a special needs individual.
Hodgenville is one such agency that has created a sticker to put on vehicles and home windows.
Chief James Richardson said Hodgenville Police Department began doing this after he pulled a resident over and a young child in the back seat, who was autistic, began to panic.
“When I got up to the car, it was obvious something was going on, but I did not recognize it,” Richardson said in a 2021 Kentucky Law Enforcement magazine story. “It looked like a kid acting out in the back seat. The dad said, ‘Hey, if you turn your lights off, I think he’ll calm down.’ So, I walked back and turned the lights off, and it worked.”
Collins is hopeful that one day, there will be an across-the-board means that will help officers know that the possibility exists that they may be dealing with special needs persons.
Collins said in the case of adults with autism, they may have tablets or cue cards because they are non-verbal. Some will also know basic sign language and will communicate that way.
Proactive Measures
Citizens with special needs are a significant portion of the community, and Collins said it is vital that law enforcement personnel educate themselves on what they may see on the street or in the halls of schools. But attending various trainings, while good, cannot replace simply getting to know the residents in your community.
She suggests holding an open house where police and parents or caregivers of autistic people can meet and discuss the best ways to interact.
Collins said it is like most elements of society. The better you know them, the more apt you will be to serve better.
“Autistic people tend to have a real centralized focus,” she said. “They may be into dinosaurs or other subjects. My son can quote you entire movies, including accents, inflections and the whole nine yards.”
