Register your child with-police for easier care

mattsmum

New Member
Yesterday there was an article in the local newspaper about registering autistic children with the local police for easier care. In the article, it stated that the police would take your child's picture and their behavioral tendencies and enter it into their emergency database. The information would then be used in the event of emergency calls from those households to give responders a clearer idea of what they will see at the home.

It went on to say without the idea of how autism works, sometimes they might treat the children like they're hostile instead of partially disabled. With this background they don't necessarily take the same command presence they normally would.

So....

I called the police department and asked if there was any reason children with other mental health impairments couldn't be included and they said, "no" and to bring difficult child down to the station.

So, I brought him tonight and the Lt. who was coordinating this effort was very nice...he has a child on the spectrum so he was very understanding. He took a digital photo of difficult child and had me fill out a sheet that said at the top, "Person Specific Handout Checklist for 9-1-1 Systems, First Responders & Emergency Room Staff. I filled out difficult child name, address, DOB, physical description, name of parents, names and phone numbers of those to contact in case of emergency, calming techniques, sensory issues and medical conditions/issues.

They then scanned that worksheet with his picture on it into their database. So, anyone responding to a call at our house, will have that information before they arrive. They also gave
me a "Supplemental 'Automatic Location Information' (ALI) Worksheet." By filling this out, and sending it in, difficult child's diagnosis is registered into the 9-1-1 database. So if we ever use 9-1-1, his diagnosis will comes up on a supplemental screen.

I was THRILLED that the police station offers this. I am always afraid that a neighbor will call the police when they hear one of his rages. If that does happen, the police will already know difficult child diagnosis. It really has taken a load off my mind...I now feel like the police will be more understanding with this info. up front.
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
I have so often wondered if this was possible. Could you pm you district so that I might present it to ours? (most of my family is involved in EMS in some form or another)
 
K

Kjs

Guest
That sounds like such a great program. I too wish our local PD had something like that.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
What an amazing PD you have!! I wonder how to get this started in my community. Can you send any specific info (even just your Police Dept info (phone #, maybe even contact info for the program?) in a PM to me??

Thanks,

Susie
 

Sara PA

New Member
One other advantage may be that, if possible, the officer(s) who respond may be ones who have experience dealing with people with nuerobiological disorders. Once my son called 911 on us -- he was in one of those paranoid, delusional states where he was raging but claiming we were out of control. (By the time the police arrived, he was eating a bottle of pills after locking himself in the garage.) Immediately after he called 911 I called back and explained what was going on. One of the responding officers -- the one who took charge of the situation, ended up staying at the hospital with us and doing the police report -- is the son of a woman with schizophrenia. He's been through it, he understood, and he probably kept my son from getting hurt or charged with a crime because that time it took two officers to restrain him and he spent a lot of time kicking the doors and windows of the police cruiser until the rage passed.

The other time police were involved with my son an officer responded who didn't get it at all and couldn't get past the idea that might, power and domination was the way to go. That time it took four grown men to pin my son to the floor and the raging went on far, far longer than it needed to. (Of course, no one would listen to me, what did I know, I'm just the mother....)
 

mattsmum

New Member
For those of you who are interested, I would call to see if your local police station offers this service. Also check your State Dept. of Safety Division of Fire Safety & Emergency Management to see if you can get an ALI worksheet.

The local Easter Seals was the original sponsor of this event.
 

judi

Active Member
While I think this is okay for younger children, our older kids need the police to be able to interact with them in all areas. In my area, (central IL - rural), in the last six months we have had four mentally ill young men (ages 17-25) killed by police officers who didn't know how to deal with the mentally ill. So...I think a more permanent solution is to have specialized instructional training for the police forces that have to deal with these people on the streets.
 
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