SESSION 5: 1.05-2.15pm
Room: LK209
Don't Leave Safety To Chance: Essential Skills for Interacting with Police
Presenters: Emily Iland and Tom Iland
About this session:
Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other Developmental Disabilities may be more likely to have an interaction with law enforcement than typical peers. Because of social, communication, sensory and behavioral features of their disability, youth with ASD and similar conditions are also at greater risk of misunderstanding during contact. For example, the first instinct of a young person with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) when encountering the police is likely to be fight, flight or shut down. None of these options usually works out well, no matter how ordinary the situation! All the hard work youth, their families and educators have done for years can be undone in just a single moment during an unsafe encounter with police.
It is not practical to just hope that youth with ASD and similar disabilities will know what they should do when they meet the police. This presentation focuses on the critical need to teach safe behaviors for interacting with law enforcement to those with exceptional needs. Direct, explicit instruction is essential to help them have a safe, independent lives. Specific skills to teach range from “Follow the law to stay out of trouble” to “Tell the police about your disability.”
This presentation explores practical strategies, tools and resources for teaching key skills for interacting safely with police. We will explore evidence-based materials and interventions including video modeling, social narratives, visual supports, and community-based application of concepts and skills.
The messages of safety, boundaries and following instructions in this presentation can truly be a matter of life-or-death, especially for learners who are at-risk due to features of their disability. The presentation is ideal for parents, professionals and self-advocates with ASD, Intellectual Disabilities, Multiple Disabilities, Dual Diagnosis and Mental Health issues.
Emily Iland, M.A., is an award-winning author, advocate, film-maker, researcher and leader in the autism field. As the mother of a young man with ASD, she brings personal experience and insight to her professional roles. She is also an adjunct professor of special education, teaching teachers who teach students with autism and related disabiltiies.
As the President of the Autism Society of Los Angeles, she authored and facilitated the first autism training for the Los Angeles Police Department in 2006. This evolved into numerous partnerships and safety training that continue today. She has personally trained more than 4,000 police and sheriffs, and was selected as a Subject Matter Expert to help create California Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Autism Awareness Training Video for law enforcement professionals across the state. Training the police is only one side of the equation: it is equally necessary to teach our youth what they should do when they meet the police. This inspired her to seek out and develop evidence-based practices for this purpose. Her son Tom Iland, a self-advocate, is her co-trainer.
Tom Iland was diagnosed with autism at 13, and has worked hard to achieve many goals: driving, living on his own, graduating from college, getting a job and having a girlfriend. After working for many years as a Certified Public Accountant, he decided to pursue a full-time career as a professional speaker.
http://emilyiland.com/
Materials:
don’t_leave_safety_to_chance__iland___iland.pdf
Room: LK209
Don't Leave Safety To Chance: Essential Skills for Interacting with Police
Presenters: Emily Iland and Tom Iland
About this session:
Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other Developmental Disabilities may be more likely to have an interaction with law enforcement than typical peers. Because of social, communication, sensory and behavioral features of their disability, youth with ASD and similar conditions are also at greater risk of misunderstanding during contact. For example, the first instinct of a young person with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) when encountering the police is likely to be fight, flight or shut down. None of these options usually works out well, no matter how ordinary the situation! All the hard work youth, their families and educators have done for years can be undone in just a single moment during an unsafe encounter with police.
It is not practical to just hope that youth with ASD and similar disabilities will know what they should do when they meet the police. This presentation focuses on the critical need to teach safe behaviors for interacting with law enforcement to those with exceptional needs. Direct, explicit instruction is essential to help them have a safe, independent lives. Specific skills to teach range from “Follow the law to stay out of trouble” to “Tell the police about your disability.”
This presentation explores practical strategies, tools and resources for teaching key skills for interacting safely with police. We will explore evidence-based materials and interventions including video modeling, social narratives, visual supports, and community-based application of concepts and skills.
The messages of safety, boundaries and following instructions in this presentation can truly be a matter of life-or-death, especially for learners who are at-risk due to features of their disability. The presentation is ideal for parents, professionals and self-advocates with ASD, Intellectual Disabilities, Multiple Disabilities, Dual Diagnosis and Mental Health issues.
Emily Iland, M.A., is an award-winning author, advocate, film-maker, researcher and leader in the autism field. As the mother of a young man with ASD, she brings personal experience and insight to her professional roles. She is also an adjunct professor of special education, teaching teachers who teach students with autism and related disabiltiies.
As the President of the Autism Society of Los Angeles, she authored and facilitated the first autism training for the Los Angeles Police Department in 2006. This evolved into numerous partnerships and safety training that continue today. She has personally trained more than 4,000 police and sheriffs, and was selected as a Subject Matter Expert to help create California Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Autism Awareness Training Video for law enforcement professionals across the state. Training the police is only one side of the equation: it is equally necessary to teach our youth what they should do when they meet the police. This inspired her to seek out and develop evidence-based practices for this purpose. Her son Tom Iland, a self-advocate, is her co-trainer.
Tom Iland was diagnosed with autism at 13, and has worked hard to achieve many goals: driving, living on his own, graduating from college, getting a job and having a girlfriend. After working for many years as a Certified Public Accountant, he decided to pursue a full-time career as a professional speaker.
http://emilyiland.com/
Materials:
don’t_leave_safety_to_chance__iland___iland.pdf