An Encouraging Sign

photo credit-Steve Brandon

St. Louis Police Chief Joe Mokwa announced Monday that a special law enforcement task-force has been assigned to the Christian Ferguson case.

He was 9 years old when he mysteriously disappeared from the SUV his father was driving, at a north St. Louis intersection, on June 11, 2003. Dawan Ferguson told police that Christian was in his car when it was stolen. Dawan had gotten out of his vehicle to use a pay phone at Skinker and Page. ...

So begins a story from the online site of KSDK, a TV station in St. Louis, Missouri. It's not unusual that the police would take a close look at such a case.

...Mokwa said the new task-force will consist of a sergeant, two detectives, two FBI agents, and a command officer. ...

which are a lot of resources to devote to just one case. What's even more unusual is that they are doing so in a case where the victim was poor, black, and severely physically and developmentally disabled (as far as I know he was not autistic, but you get the point).

In this case, the father of the child reported that he stopped to use a pay phone, and left the child in the car. While he was reportedly on the phone he says that the car was carjacked. The empty car was found two hours later a few miles away.

There were many inconsistencies in the story, such as the fact that the father had a cell phone in the car at the time, and a witness who reported seeing the car at the place where it was found at approximately the same time that it was reported stolen. The police reportedly never believed the father's story, but have turned up no evidence of foul play thus far.

I've been critical, as well as worried, regarding how society and law enforcement deal with the death and treatment of disabled individuals. So I have to be even handed and give props to Chief Mokwa of the St. Louis police department for pursuing this case, even though the family is not wealthy or politically connected, and even though the child was severely disabled. The world would be a better place if there were more such individuals who recognized the humanity in all individuals, and who were willing to stand up for those without the power or means to stand up for themselves.

Lastly, let's hope that anyone that knows anything with regards to what really happened will stand up and be counted.

Dark Thoughts

My blog contribution to "Blogging against Disablism" Day

Everyone has secret fears for their child with a disability. For some, it's that their child will grow up alone, without friends. For others, it's that their child will some day be institutionalized, with all the terror that may involve. For me, it's that my son will some day be shot and killed because of his autism. Or rather, because of the fact that he is autistic and black.

One of the less pleasant aspects of Buddy Boy's being autistic is that he frustrates rather easily, and responds in what are usually considered inappropriate and belligerant manners. Don't get me wrong. 95% of the time Buddy Boy is the sweetest kid you'd ever want to meet. His speech may be a little stilted at times, but he's loving, considerate, smart, and funny. He's progressed in his ability to control these outbursts as he's matured, but we still have a ways to go (and I don't even want to think about puberty).

The other day he ran off the sidewalk into the grass and crashed his bike. I had been pedaling ahead of him at the time.

"DAD!" he says, getting up. He scrunches up his face (looking angry), points his finger right at me, and continues-

"LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE. HOW DARE YOU!"

A few soothing words and a calm manner result, as they usually do, with a quick de-escalation of hostilities, and a response of

"I'm OK. Sorry, Dad."

And father and son continue on their way.

But every time such an episode occurs, there is a vague fear stirring in my gut, one which I don't often consciously acknowledge, it is so dark. One which tells me that 9 years from now, should my son acquire a driver's license, the following might occur during a traffic stop for a minor traffic violation:

"License and registration, please."

"What's wrong? I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"Just settle down, son."

The police officer lightly places his arm on Buddy Boy's. Buddy Boy flinches and pulls back. The police officer starts to get nervous at the large black angry teenager. He places one hand on his gun.

"HOW DARE YOU! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"Keep your hands on the wheel".

In the moment, Buddy Boy does not process this as a command. He has just processed the request for his license and registration.

Buddy Boy's initial flare is starting to abate, and he quickly reaches for his wallet to show his license.

The reaching for his wallet is misinterpreted as him going for a weapon after being told to keep his hands on the wheel, and...

If you think this situation is far fetched, then you don't remember Amadou Diallo.
___________________________________________________________

Liz and I are parents thru adoption. We are both white, and the kids are both bi-racial (African American/Caucasion). Buddy Boy's birthfather was built like a football player, and I expect that Buddy Boy will be a big guy, too. Before adopting, I considered that one of the biggest problems that we might face was racism. By the time Buddy Boy was two and a half, I realized that his (yet to be diagnosed) autism was probably going to be our biggest challenge. Now I realize that both may interact in the future to create unique challenges.

"Driving While Black" is a well documented phenomenon, that results in more blacks (especially males) being stopped for traffic violations, and more tickets and searches performed on them. It's an expected part of growing up black in America. Even black police practice racial profiling. And it doesn't matter if you're well dressed, or have small children with you. Johnny Cochrane (O.J.'s famous lawyer) used to be an Assistant District Attorney in Los Angeles. Once, while well dressed and driving home with his two young children in the car he was stopped by the police, who approached the car with guns drawn. They removed him from the car, and it was not until they found his badge that they backed off. It happens to blacks all across America every day. I do think the police need some lattitude in pulling over suspicious looking people. But they have proven time and time again that "all blacks look alike". It doesn't matter if the black person is well dressed or well mannered. What the police see is "potential criminal".

Autism is an "invisible" disability. You're not confined to a wheelchair, you don't need a cane, and your body moves just fine. [EDIT-Please see my follow up comments in "Et Tu, Brute"] In my son's case, he is also very verbal. His speech at times is stilted, and sometimes scripted, but it takes a bit to pick up on that. And when you have an invisible disability, people don't necessarily make (or feel they have to make) accomodations for you.

Police officers are trained to control situations. They are given authority to keep the peace, and they are also given wide lattitude in enforcing that peace. Citizens, for their part, are expected to defer to the authority of the police, and resolve conflicts in a court of law. One thing that the police, in general, have very little training in is relating to autistic citizens.

As a result of this lack of training, there are way too many opportunities for misunderstandings that result in escalation of a police officer's response. Police officers are usually trained in a "use of force continuum" where they are expected to use the least amount of force in order to obtain compliance. A little less than 20% of arrests involve some use of force, and use of force is reported to occur more frequently where drugs, alcohol, or mental illness is involved. Of note, initial levels of force usually involve the "laying on of hands" in some manner on the "suspect". When an autistic person reflexively recoils from contact with someone he doesn't know in a stressful situation, the police officer is then justified in moving up the ladder of the "use of force continuum". This may involve other "non-lethal" methods of restraining someone, such as Tasers, which can very definitely be lethal at times. Anytime the officer feels his life (or other citizens around him) are threatened, he is justified in using lethal force.

I have no hope of curing racism, bigotry, or racial profiling in the next 9 years. I do hold out some hope of influencing police forces' education and training in dealing with autistics. Why? Autism knows no barriers. Rich, poor, black, white, everyone gets autism. And statistically that means that even some police officer's kids are going to end up on the spectrum. I expect that in many departments some officers will speak up, and demand proper training for their peers. One study documented that autistics were 7 times more likely to have an encounter with the police than NT's were. It's in the police forces' self interest to get those encounters right. Signs of this beginning to happen are encouraging.

For my part, I have been writing my legislators to advocate for mandatory police training in autism for our state. And one of the things I am trying to instill in Buddy Boy is compliance with law enforcement officers. I hope they listen in time.

One Day in Virginia

By now virtually the whole world has heard of the mass murder/suicide in Virginia two days ago.

We, as human beings, try to categorize things to understand them. We search for meaning and for signals, that we may avert tragedy the next time. We want understanding of motives that would push someone to randomly kill innocents.

The one thing that I have not heard, that I have been fearing that I would, is the "A" word. Someone saying that the shooter was somewhere on the spectrum. Earlier this year we had the Odgren case, where a student with Asperger's fatally stabbed a fellow student. In the search for meaning in that case students with Asperger's were characterized as potentially violent.

In the aftermath of this tragedy in Virginia, I have heard the gunman described as basically non-verbal, as well as being totally socially isolated. In his only attempts at interaction with the opposite sex, he was totally inappropriate, engaging in behaviors that the women took to be stalking. One "expert" on mass murderers opined that the shooters total social isolation was a "red flag" that he was potentially very dangerous.

I am so sorry that the event happened. And so relieved (for now) that the "A" word hasn't been associated with it. Autism has gotten such a bad rap when it comes to violence.

School officials have no reservations when it comes to having children as young as 5 or 6 arrested by the police for acting out in class. I fear that they will call in police now to investigate all of those who are deemed to be "totally socially isolated".

I have no way of knowing whether the shooter in Virginia was on the spectrum. But I also have little doubt that, had he survived, his lawyers would have trotted out someone to say that he was, and that this was the "cause" of him acting the way he did.

I also know that when it comes to violence and autistics, that they are most often on the receiving end. But no one gets too upset about that.

People are calling Cho Seung-Hui "pure evil". I see him as a seriously disturbed young man who did a terible thing. Being disturbed does not excuse his actions. It does not even "explain" them.

Some things are beyond explanation.

I mourn for the victims of Monday's shooting.

Edit: After coming home today and seeing some of the material that the shooter had sent to NBC, it is obvious that he was anything but autistic. Possibly paranoid schizophrenic, but definitely not autistic.