18yr old Autistic boy tased by police

[MrsStunner]

Tybee police 'apologetic' for Tasing autistic teen | savannahnow.com

My DH is actually working in Tybee right now (lucky him) and was at the festival watching this happen to this poor young man.

I think the poor boy deserves alot more than just an apology...

[EshuBarakeno]

That is absolutely disgusting.

But sadly, I can't say that I'm shocked.

[everprincess]

Sad and down right depressing that this happened.

[~~Who,Me?~~]

This is very sad, and sadder yet--not uncommon. An autistic person has a very high chance of having a run-ins with police. Their behavior, which often is not socially acceptable, makes them targets.

One of the things I lose sleep over at night:sad:

But education is key, if you do have police officers in your family, give them this handout.
Police and Autism: Avoiding Unfortunate Situations

There used to be a great video online, I'll try to locate it.

[anaj06]

"It's easy to play quarterback after the pass has been thrown," Proveaux said. "An officer has to do what he thinks he has to do to protect himself and the individual. If a Taser wasn't reasonable, what would have been reasonable? Officers are limited in the tools they have available."

I hate to take the opposite point of view, but it is very hard to judge a situation like this without being there. I have no idea what happened in this situation but I do know that my husband works as a cop and in any situation, a split second decision could mean the difference between life and death. Cops provide a service to their community for very little pay and in the case of my husband because they love their job and there community. It is a thankless job that winds you in the news only when your split second decision was incorrect, etc.

Imagine what the opposite point of view, the man was intoxicated (as it appeared) and he became violent because in the thrashing about he was going to pull a gun out. Then the situation could have ended in depth and not minor injuries from a tazor. I know which decision I would like my husband to make!

[~~Who,Me?~~]

You're right, and I get that. That's why public education is important. 1% of the population is autistic, so recognition is key. We can't be tasing 1% of the population unnecessarily.

May be non-verbal (approximately 50% of this population is non-verbal); or may only repeat what is said to them; may communicate with sign language, picture cards or use gestures and pointing.
May not respond to "Stop" command, may run or move away when approached; may cover ears and look away constantly.
May have seizure disorder that is not apparent to responder.
May toe walk, have pigeon-toed gait or running style.
May appear as high on drugs, drunk or having a psychotic episode.
May react to sudden changes in routine or sensory input- for example, lights, sirens, canine partners, odors- with escalation of repetitive behavior, such as, pacing, hand flapping, twirling hands, hitting self, screaming (temper tantrums are an expected response to fear, confusion, or frustration as an effort to stop the stimuli).
May attempt to present an autism information card; may wear medical alert jewelry or have information sewn or imprinted on clothes or on non-permanent tattoo.
May not recognize danger or hurt; may possess weak help-seeking skills; may not be able to distinguish between minor and serious problems, may not know where/how to get help for problems; may not be able to give important information or be able to answer questions.
May not recognize police vehicle, badge or uniform or understand what is expected of them if they do.
May have difficulty recognizing and repairing breakdowns in communication such as asking for clarification or responding to a request for clarification; may not understand or accept officers' statements or answers.
May appear argumentative, stubborn, or belligerent; may say 'No!' in response to all questions; may ask 'Why?' incessantly.
May repeat exactly what the officer says.
Will have difficulty interpreting body language, such as command presence or defensive posture, or facial expressions, such as, raised eyebrows, rolling eyes, smiles and frowns; and have difficulty recognizing jokes, teasing and verbal/non-verbal emotional responses.
May be poor listeners: may not seem to care what you have to say; their lack of eye contact may give you the feeling they aren't listening or have something to hide.
May have passive monotone voices with unusual pronunciations; often sound computer-like; will have difficulty using the correct volume for the situation.
May have difficulty judging personal space; may stand too close or too far away; may not differentiate different body parts; may stare at you or present atypical fixed gaze.
May perseverate on favorite topic when uncomfortable in the form of repeated questions-for example, What if? What's your name? -arguments, or apparent ramblings about favorite sports teams, train, bus or plane schedules, city names, etc.
May have difficulty in seeing things from a different point of view; may have difficulty predicting other persons' reaction to them.
Are usually very honest, sometimes too honest; have behaviors limiting credibility with others but do not or ably tell lies; often very blunt, not tactful.

The above is from the handout I referenced in my earlier post, bold mine. But saying "I didn't recognize it as autism" is not going to be an acceptable excuse indefinitely. At some point police/fire/safety personnel are going to have to take responsibilty for being able to discern drunk from autistic.

[MrsStunner]

Well, My DH was actually there and witnessed it. I head about it that night, but DH thought he was strung out on some drugs or something...not that he was autistic. Now, DH says he should have seen the signs (we have a DS6 who is autistic) b/c when the officers were talking to the kid they were yelling and the kid was hitting his hand (palm) to the side of his head. DH also says when they went to grab the kids arm (i guess to cuff him) the kid pulled away and freaked out... that's when they started slamming him around.

The way I see it, the kid wasn't harming anyone or himself, there was no reason to use the type of force they used. It should have been obvious he had a disability if he wasnt able to communicate back to the officer. If not a disability...intoxication, neither of which warrants the type of abuse the kid received. Did you see the pics?

[CW&M Mom]

Why on earth have they not dropped the charges?

[~~Who,Me?~~]

If nothing else good comes of this, I hope it brings publicity to the issue. The issue that people with autism are misunderstood and mistaken for other things. Right now, at this point in time, yeah, I'd say that I'd accept "misunderstanding" as the excuse from police. But I don't think that the general public will be accepting that excuse in 3, 5 or 10 years from now. It will be expected that public officers can recognize the difference.

[tmsmalley]

I worked in special ed for 10 years, primarily with severely disturbed and autistic children and adults. While this is unfortunate, I can't blame the police and I can't even say that recognition or whatever is the issue. He was out of control and non-responsive. They don't know (or care) why.

If someone's behavior is a problem, the police have to take action. They can't spend time trying to figure out if the person involved means to do it or not. They can only respond to what they see. Many, even most of the people that I worked with were assaultive from time to time. I do believe that police use the least lethal form of restraint possible (as we did in my job), but there are times where you have to take someone to the ground. I can't fault a police officer for using a taser to do that. It is certainly safer for them and the person involved than getting into a wrestling match and a choke hold.

One of the very disturbed teens I worked with went off one day and spent over an hour throwing large rocks with such force that he made huge dents in the metal school exterior doors. Teachers and aides were pinned down inside and in the process, he completely destroyed a brand new car by throwing rocks through all the windows and bouncing them off the roof. We were finally able to get his group home mother out there to restrain him. That led to a huge discussion about whether it would have been a good idea to call the police or not. My vote (this was pre-taser days) was that there wouldn't have been anything they could have done except exacerbate the situation and potentially, either one of them or the kid could have been seriously hurt. If it were to happen today, I'd vote for call the guy with the taser and be done with it. As it was, we were very lucky that no one was hurt.

Tess