by Jonathan Slack, Market Research & Development Specialist
In the past our blog has covered the good news of states creating and expanding their autism mandates. Today, we are going to shed some light on another type of mandate.
In Rhode Island there is a bill circulating that would mandate that police departments across the state train their officers in how to respond to people with developmental disabilities. Some individuals on the autism spectrum are nonverbal, and other individuals on the spectrum have a difficult time acting appropriately in social situations. Across the state there have been scattered reports of police officers acting too aggressively against individuals on the spectrum who were nonverbal.
Police officers have a tough job. Hopefully this bill to mandate police training will ensure that police officers across the state have the tools and knowledge to adequately handle situations involving individuals on the autism spectrum.
Source: www.providencejournal.com
