Police fund free information cards for people in Rotherham with autism

[AGXStarseed]

(Not written by me)

Jason Harwin
People with autism in Rotherham needing help in emergency situations are set to benefit from a scheme developed by the National Autistic Society and funded by South Yorkshire Police.

Free ‘Autism Alert Cards’ are now available to people living in Rotherham after police funded the printing of 500.

The cards were developed by the NAS to be carried by people with autism and used in situations where communication may be difficult.

They are credit-card sized, and clearly labelled with a person’s name, emergency contact details and an information leaflet about autism and how to talk to people with the condition.

Autism affects the way a person communicates with, and relates to, others, as well as how they understand the world around them.

Chief Superintendent Jason Harwin, District Commander for Rotherham, said: “We’re delighted to be able to support the NAS with such an important scheme. Our officers come into contact with people from all sections of society, including those with autism, many of whom have additional communication needs.

“People carrying the Autism Alert Card can present it to officers, or anyone else, to help explain their behaviour in times of stress, such as in an accident, or to explain their needs if they are unable to communicate them verbally or struggling to get their message across.


SOURCE: Police fund free information cards for people in Rotherham with autism - The Star

 

[AsheSkyler]

I heard about that recently! I think that's pretty cool. Now for the next hurdle: teaching us to process enough to just whip out the card.

Another thing I'd like to get for us are official dog tags. My husband used to have a pendant that read "I am diabetic, please test my blood sugar in an emergency" and he said that most paramedics are supposed to be trained to check for tags like that so they wouldn't accidentally do something very bad. I don't know if police are trained to check for tags, but it would be good if they were. I can't imagine tazing a disoriented diabetic with a blood sugar of 40 something would be very healthy for them. Or tazing us during a meltdown! We have enough neurons misfiring without throwing electricity into the mix.

 

[Judge]

Interesting idea. I've seen a few times where law enforcement's immediate contact with an autistic person could yield unpredictable and precarious results, depending on how much information that had about the person prior to encountering them.

But I also see how this could be more viable on the other side of the pond as opposed to here. I think the US has a ways to go before autism is viewed as something other than with a scarlet "A".

Still, it may save lives. In principle, a sound idea.

 

[Ste11aeres]

But I also see how this could be more viable on the other side of the pond as opposed to here. I think the US has a ways to go before autism is viewed as something other than with a scarlet "A".

I think that things like this are a sign of people coming to view autism with more understanding.