Police and autism; success with autism ID card!

Post Reply New Topic

First the bad news: I got annoyed while driving home last night, at two cars driving same speed hogging both lanes on the highway; going 15mph below the speed limit and failing to pull right for faster traffic (the law in CA), so I broke the speed limit (80mph in a 65 zone) briefly to pass at what I perceived as a safe spot. The CA Highway Patrol did not agree, and gave me a ticket.

Now the good news: I politely asked him to review my autism card, which I printed and laminated on an 8x10 sheet. He politely read it, and acknowledged, and did not shine his flashlight in my eyes! Usually they do that routinely, either to blind people so as to inhibit any ability to do something violent, or to look for drugged effects on the eyes, or whatever. He asked me if bright lights were a problem, and I said "yes sir!" In this case, he was very respectful, and I was elated that the plackard worked! I can't say that this will always be the case, but it is encouraging for me, along with others with HFA and Asperger's.

Kudos to Officer Slover; CA Highway Patrol; Ventura County East station!

Charles

I don't want an ID card. I don't want to be identified as being autistic before being a person. It might work for some people but for me I'd find it dehumanising.

Thank you for sharing that with us. I'm glad that things went well with the police.

A lot of people in my area don't really know what autism is & they tend to assume that it's like a form of mental retardation; even some of the docs & psychs I saw had that impression. Autistics here are people who need to have family or caregivers watch them. People might assume the autistic card is a prank or they would be extremely confused as how a ret*d was able to get a drivers license.

That all boils down to lack of public education about the spectrum. When I first heard of AS and it was suggested by someone that I have it, I thought there were crazy! No way was I autistic. I thought of a high functioning autistic as someone like Rain Man from the movie.

It might be more helpful to have a card that tells them that you have a spectrum disorder.

Frances

Tut tut, playing the card I see.

I don't think I would care for a card like that. I believe it could work either way and may not be a good idea. Someone might hold it against you or take advantage of you because of it. But I'm glad you had a positive experience with the cop.

Same thing with me. I knew I was weird, but I always though of autism as what the kids on the special bus had; the ones who didn't speak, etc. I'd never have thought I would fit under the same umbrella. A clear case of uneducation. That's what the Autism info card is all about. I usually explain briefly "Autism can be anything from a debilitating condition of someone permanently in board & care, to a smashing success like Bill Gates". That usually does it. I will share it here if I have any negative experiences with the card, just to be fair. So far I've shown it once, and that makes it 100% successful to date.

Charles