I am currently helping the Police learn effective communication skills…
…for when they are dealing with autistic adults.
All to often autistic adults come into conflict with the police through lack of understanding on both sides. I personally know of a few cases where autistic adults that able to travel by themselves have got into serious trouble with the police, arrested and even threatened with prison before being sectioned in a psychiatric unit.
These confrontations often occur when someone with autism has difficulty expressing themselves to the police in a public place. The police, not understanding autistic symptoms, just see the autistic person as a trouble maker, perhaps high on drugs or alcohol. This can lead to a sometimes violent struggle and arrest.
I have been in similar situations with police and authority figures when travelling around London. Things can get out of hand very quickly for autistic people, especially in noisy confusing environments such as train stations. We can’t always explain ourselves quickly enough and lash out in frustration.
So this is a very positive move by the UK police.
They saw my website www.adultswithautism.org.uk and contacted me earlier in the year. They have been using articles from this website and my YouTube videos to inform their officers on how to communicate with autistic people in a way that will deflate a potentially difficult situation. I will also be going to their training centre in October to give a speech to the police.
I will keep you all posted on how things are working out with this training.
Hopefully I can help spread awareness and understanding of autism amongst the police in London.
Steve – www.adultswithautism.org.uk
Unrecognised Autistic says
I was arrested once for legitimate reasons that could easily have been dealt with very quickly. Instead they kept me for several hours , wasting public money, refusing to listen to me , thinking that they had someone else. I have never had too much confidence in the police since then but fortunately I have been able to keep out of their way. At best I think that the police show one face to the public, but quite another to their suspects. Due to the police ‘culture’, I would be very surprised if they ever become ‘aware’ of autism in their dealings with the public.
Steve- adults with autism says
Hi
Thanks for your message.
Was your experience with police in the UK?
I think that if you are lucky you will get a policeman that has some understanding of autism, but unfortunately too many of them have little knowledge of our condition. It will take time for the police to become more aware of autism, but there are signs that they are beginning to train their officers to deal more effectively with autistic people.
Regards
Steve
http://www.adultswithautism.org.uk
shiby Thomas (Kerala India) says
There are new research finding on Autism. Recent studies shows, it is a metabolic disorder starts from the first trimester to generate more neurons. particularly the neuron transmitter called serotonin…in an unbalanced degree. Later on due metabolic disorder causes a rapid changes in these balance mechanism, and several other sub organs related to the production of these neuron transmitters. In Indian Ayurveda there are powerful treatment mechanism to correct these neuron balance with strict diet and therapies…..highly success if doing the proper intervention in between 2-5 years of age. It works by a step by step treatment like neuron correction…attention, attention span….receptive language….expressive language…Even after six years there are several routines to reduce hyper and behavioral problems.
Michael says
This is a positive step. From an American context, police officers are often cynical and assume the worst about people. Thus, when they encounter an autistic person, they tend to assume that the person is mentally disturbed, being a “smart aleck” with the police. There are a few training programs in the United States, and I hope they do good here. Good luck in the UK.
Steve- adults with autism says
Hi Michael yes I agree with you. We also need doctors dentists and other people in a position of authority to become more aware of good communication skills when dealing with autistic people. Regards steve
David Mery says
Steve,
This is great news. Such initiatives are sorely needed. You may be interested in the first part of my submission to the Home Affairs Committee’s inquiry into policing and mental health. I do recommend (increased) training.
http://gizmonaut.net/blog/uk/2014/05/hac_policing_and_mental_health.html
Rgds.
-d
Steve- adults with autism says
Hi David I read the text of your submission. It was very interesting and exactly the type of scenario I am try to educate the police to deal with in a better way. I have also got into trouble at a train station and was detained by police. Even when I showed my nas autism awareness card, they said they did not care.
It will take time but hopefully things will change for the better for people with autism.
Regards steve http://www.adultswithautism.org.uk
David says
Steve, FYI, I’ve published two posts on this topic recently:
http://gizmonaut.net/blog/autism/2015/07/calm_almost_too_calm.html and
http://gizmonaut.net/blog/autism/2015/07/autistic_behaviour_considered_suspicious.html