The Autism Zoo

I gave a talk the other day at the local law enforcement agency. I do this with our college's Autism clinic. Other parents that have autistic children and I sit and answer questions about our kids and how we think it would be best to handle them in an emergency situation. We all feel this is a wonderful program and very needed. One officer pointed out that we are just the middle men, he said what we need is to have the kids present so that they can see what kids with Autism are like....
Great idea. I will go gather about 1000 kids so they can see the 1000 different ways autism affects our children.

My son, for example is considered "high functioning". There are two parents on the panel that have older children, (in their late 20s early 30s) their kids would be considered on the lower functioning side of the spectrum. They are non-verbal and exhibit the stemming behavior that has been so characteristic of autism. I think it would be impossible to show all the faces of autism in one field trip. I see that in my son.One day he is a certain way, the next day he is a whole different person. Now this may be due to the fact that my son is still trying to figure out who he is now that he is not drugged.
It's not that I think this is a bad idea. The opposite is true. I want officers, firefighters, medical personnel and well the general public to understand more about my son. I don't want him to get shot one day because he doesn't do what the officer is asking him to do. I think what the officer may have been politely asking is couldn't we educate our children about them too?
Shouldn't our kids be taught to follow the officer's rules, the firefighters help, the doctors advice? Yes. And the we will tell them the next day, and the next and the next and when something happens they probably will not remember all they have learned.
Why?
Well stress seems to be the one common thread in autistic children. When you are under stress how do you handle things? I sometimes act appropriately, doing what I need to do to shift the situation to a better one, however sometimes I make things worse with my behavior. My son almost 100% of the time makes things worse with his behavior when he is stressed out. He, although is considered high functioning, will hurt himself if he is upset. This is usually only a behavior seen in the lower end of the spectrum. My son knows it is wrong, but he will still partake in the behavior.
What about the non-verbal autistic person? Say they are riding in a car, something they do every Monday at this time. They are heading to a clinic or event that has become engraved into their patterns. They are comfortable with this pattern. Lets say that the person driving happens to be speeding. They get stopped by an officer. This is not something that happens on Monday when we are going to our appointment. Now we are going to be late. Now the world is going to end....
Something as simple as a change in the routine can inflict a great deal of stress. Add to that lights and sirens and then a stranger approaching the car. Now lets hope, or pretend this person has explained to their autistic passenger that officers are our friends. They are there to help us and keep us safe, and make people follow the rules. Do you think this will remain in the forefront of the brain when all the other stimulants are present?
I don't know.
Maybe it would. I hope it would, but maybe not.
Now what is the officer to think if when he approaches the vehicle one party is in full melt down. Hitting the seat, ceiling, window, themselves.....
This is then a stressful event for the officer who goes into Officer Safety mode.
Sigh.
So perhaps what we need is a place where the general public can go to learn about Autism? I am not up for having that many people at our house, and neither is my son.....what about a place where we could put the different kinds of autism on display. We would of course make sure the autistic people were safe, and well fed, and entertained....and to keep the viewers safe maybe we could put up some kind of a glass wall or cage type system....yeah and we could put nice paths around them and have signs describing each kid.

Apergerus Childus

Indigenous to all parts of the world

Likes routine and quiet

Sometimes holds important jobs like owning major computer companies

Likes most foods as long as they are not touching other foods and look the way they did the first time they were served.

Do not agitate.

Well.....that doesn't seem like a very good idea after all....
I guess we just keep giving talks and hope that the rest of the world learns quickly how to deal with these kids.