We Help the Special Needs Not Shoot the Special Needs!
March 23rd 2010 05:51
We help the special needs not shoot the special needs! What in the world happened on that street corner the other night? The police shot and killed a 27-year-old unarmed autistic man. They shot him in the head. What?
I have a few points. The police should be trained to recognizing people with challenges. I know their lives are on the line and I appreciate that very much. People with special needs have difficulty with senses most of us take for granted.
I have a difficult time explaining this to people in education all the time. For example, if a person has an auditory delay or processing problem they do not hear everything a person is saying or they hear parts of what a person is saying. I have a bit of an auditory delay, when phone numbers are left as a message on my phone, I cannot retrieve it. I’ve called many wrong numbers before I realized it’s something I have to deal with.
According to the LA Times, “Steven Eugene Washington, 27, didn't respond to commands and seemed to reach for a weapon, officers say.” If this man had special needs he may not have heard the officers. Background noise or noise on the street can really put an autistic person over the edge. Look at it this way, the senses we all have: taste, touch, smell, sight, and hearing are expanded by a 1000 with people with autism. Can you imagine how you would feel if someone scratched the chalkboard over and over again. That’s how they feel about their senses. Each autistic person has different issues so there is not a pattern we can follow. If this young adult was “on edge” or deregulated by sight, sound, etc. He was just trying to maintain, get himself together and back in a safe place.
Autism is a communication disorder. That means it is difficult to communicate.
Expressive language is when we talk to others. We are expressing our selves. Receptive language is when we take in language and understand it. We are receiving it.
Expressive language requires a person to reach in their toolbox of words and phrases and bring out the right phrase for the situation. You probably can see at this point how this can be a problem for an “on edge” young man late at night.
Receptive means you understand all that is being communicated. In some special needs people this takes time. The wait time can be long to express or take action based on what is said. Can you see the problem here? I wait for long periods of time in the classroom for students to express a thought, let alone to take an action. Not so easy.
Let me complicate things further, just to drive the point home. Once you hear or receive the information, understand the information your brain has to tell your body what to do. Not a big deal? Big Deal. This is called “intentionality”. The ability to move your body in the direction you wants it to go. Not an easy task for special needs or autistic people. The action can take a long time even when they know what they want to do!
Hot Damn! We cannot shoot them in the head.
It was dark and their job is dangerous.
I don’t want to blame. I’m saddened. This did not need to happen.
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