Meeting tonight w/ the cops about autism

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I need input, there is a meeting tonight w/ all the parents of AS and Autistic children, and people who have something to say regarding information for the law enforcement officers (henceforth known as "The Man" ) to remember when they engage with "People on the Spectrum" (their words, not mine) I wonder if anyone has anything relavant to offer that would help me to help them understand that when you pull us over for a taillight, DO NOT attempt to open my daughters door, a lack of response is not being disrespectful, ect. ect. However I do like the fact that they have decided to have this meeting in the first place. At least they're trying.
I think the case in PA or somewhere, really got their attention.The little boy was missing for like 13 hours but they would't use "The Amber Alert" because he wasn't "abducted". Hate to think of what those poor parents went thru, thankfully he was found safely. They also just had a little autistic boy drown up here, after he got out of the house (proably one of my worst fears, my daughter LOVES the water)
If you have anything to add I'd really appreciate it. Thanks

Inability to make eye contact is *not* guilt!

Yeah, that and flat-tone of voice and body movements, along with probably many other things folks can point out here.
I figure more often than not, a cop will perceive a natural action on the part of someone with AS as disrespect, and I figure there are at least a few folks here that have experienced or heard of cops getting pissed off and making someone's life difficult just because of a perceived attitude problem.

From the experience of someone who has worked the streets (E.M.S. not law enforcement), there is quite a bit of ignorance about the variances in people.

Figure that even today, some cops still have difficulty realizing an individual may be diabetic and having an issue with that rather than, 'they're just drunk', and this has been taught for many years now to the Police, EMS and Fire crews.

I've seen folks brought into the emergency room because of normal (to the patient) behaviours mistaken for substance abuse.

I'm glad you have the opportunity to educate some of your LEO's. This is a great thing you'll be doing!

I don't know anything about non-aspie forms of autism.

I think it would be a good idea for you to keep in mind, and to try to help them understand, that the guidelines for dealing with aspies are not commonsense, although they seem that way to us. If somebody shines a flashlight in my eyes, for example, they might as well throw a bucket of icewater over me, but most people aren't like that.

Another consideration, and I'm not sure what can be done about it, is that asperger's isn't obvious like a broken leg. I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of aspies have never heard of asperger's.

I had a lot of problems with cops when I was younger, even though I never did much wrong, but it's worth keeping in mind that a lot of cops are decent people who wouldn't want to make things worse for someone with a disability.

I think it would help things a lot if they were simply aware that we're out there.

Nervousness and fidgiting is not an automatic sign of guilt for someone on the spectrum so if they seem flustered try to talk openly and honestly with a CALM tone of voice...that "mighty authority voice" crap will just freak them out more...

Diabetes, heck, that is at least invisible. But people with *cerebral palsy* often are believed to be drunk! The cops apparently can't tell the difference.

Please tell us how it went!

I'd like to hear more about tactics for questioning people with AS.

Back from the meeting and must admit I was somewhat impressed. They have formed a "task force"(for want of a better term) devoted to informing the State Troopers and the the other LEO on how best to deal w/ people on the spectrum,they'll also be contacting all the E.M.S. and firefighters w/ info also. They also have specific people to be called on "Response Procedures. They also told us that they have set up what they call "ION Kids" which is a funded "Care-track" system that you pay an initial cost of $275.00 and then $25.00 a month for batteries and if your child goes missing they just dial in the frequency and track them down. Which will make the system much more available to some parents. It was like $1200.00 or $1300.00 for a private purchase of the "Care-track". They also brought up the service dogs as we just had the first one in the state arrive at the end of August.
The disturbing part for me was where they were talking about the little boy who drowned recently and they said the reason why was because the parents went out looking for him first before calling "The Man " (I think it was extreamly inapproiate to lay blame of any kind, espicially on grieving parents, this will be broadcast on T.V. here in Anchorage, hope they edit well) Also one of the mothers brought up the fact that when she called the cops (MP's, she lives on post) after her child had gotton out, they proceded to call "Childrens Services" on her and she had to fight them and bring in doucumention about her childs ASD, but she said it wasn't the paperwork that bothered it, it was the stigma of being involved and investigated by "Childrens Services" for calling in about her missing child. The cops kept telling all the parents "Don't be embarassed to call, CALL IMMEDIATLY!! but look at what this mother went thru when she called. They are also currently training their ""Project Lifesavers/Search Team" on how to deal with people on the spectrum. They've also asked for parent volunteers on the team and also for some of us to bring in our children so they can see first-hand what they'll really be dealing with.
Overall I feel it was a productive meeting and I must say that I'm proud of "The Man " for reaching out and trying to understand and form an exchange w/ all of us on how best to help our children in the event of any kind of emergency. Also, would like to thank Krex for that link, I was able to provide them w/ some info they did't have thanks to you. (the upper body thing, they had never heard of that either.) The School District was who set it up and I must say it's nice to know they are listening to what we have parents have to say. I never"preview" so please forgive any typos or misspellings beforehand. Thanks, and thanks for all your imput also.

Hi, new here- My comment will be that the "mighty authority voice" is called Command Presence and is a trained ability to help an officer control a situation. Never mind that a note in my Local (CM) police computers describes me as having a "problem with Authority". I have had officers take an aggressive and threatening stance when they have confronted me. I have a non-violent posture -yet am very agitated whenever confronted by Officers. A shame when I might ever need one, they are more then likely to think and act in a manner presuming I' m a drunk or high on stimulants. (Can't handle stimulants, bug me out too much.) Cheers.

This may be of no importance here. When I was 19 (just last year), I was pulled over by several cops who followed me down the road, recording my driving on their in-car video camera, and then pulled me over. They did not like my driving, and they showed it to me later, but asked me first whether I had taken anything. I said I had taken one Benadryl for some allergies at the time. I doubt that was the cause of my driving. Sure enough, I made a lane switch a few times without my blinker and while on the outer lane of the four-lane highway, my right wheels touched the white line a few times. They had me call my parents to come pick me up. It was all a bit embarrassing and I did not like the tone of the policemen.

I have had exactly the opposite problem. Whenever I am talking to a cop, I tend towards an unwavering stare directly into the eyes. Apparently this can also cause the cop to think you've done something wrong.

Catch-22.

you know i find myself always planning to justify how i haven't done anything wrong. mainly because i know that the eye contact and so forth might be an issue for me.

also doesn't help that being put on the spot tends to make me fall apart a bit....at least to the point to where i have trouble expressing myself as i normally would if a judgmental eye wasn't cast as harshly on me.