It is enough to handle when a parent, teacher, or other professional is blind sided by occurences in autism. Each is getting to know autism in a significant way, and their overall experiences will allow for a lifetime of understanding with regard to all that is severe autism. Each is, Serving With Autism in Totality (SWAT).
It is not enough to simply read a report here or a not so carefully worded indictment there, and then make judgement based on a snippet - which is what a sensationalized media intermixes in reporting many times; I mean, don't just report the autism affected child missing, imply guilt with regard to parent or teacher, and especially law enforcement.
In the past couple of months, there have been a good amount of news reports with regard to the very young in the autism spectrum wandering off. To be sure, there is a kind of unwavering vigilance that needs to be practice for ones such as the very young, severely affected autism affected child. The bigger story is that the challenge remains for families and communities, even into adulthood.
At times, news reports point out the difficulties when law enforcement unexpectedly comes upon persons exhibiting autistic tendencies or physical mannerisms and movements that are not ordinary. To law enforcement the individual might simply seem suspicious. I recall one case involving an 18 year old standing outside of a bar seeming intoxicated, and another involving an 18 year old who was simply sitting in a grassy area outside of an elementary school library. Both situations did not end well when these 18 year olds were approached by law enforcement.
Law enforcement agencies have increasingly engaged in training sessions so that they might be prepared for interactions involving those within the spectrum of autism, and the exacerbation that might occur. That being said, there might be an overall advantage in training public servants in total, not just law enforcement. This is because those more severely affected within the autism spectrum have been given increasing opportunities to be involved in typical public settings.
School districts have had quite a bit of experience in meeting the need for preparedness with regard to worsening presentations in severe autism. This has been a type of growing pain, so to speak, of which most districts would have preferred to have been completely prepared. Schools have incrementally risen to the worthy challenge.
Within an educational setting some time ago, one teen in Ohio was dragged 50 to 100 feet down a hallway. I can only guess as to why an alternative to dragging the child was not thought of. The mother felt that what happened to her son should serve as a caution, and impetus for evaluation of her state's standards for training and teaching licensed teachers, aides and assistants. Of course she was right, but there is a little more to the whole thing.
My own autistic daughter had the experience of being carried out of a classroom by several teachers during an unexpected worsening years ago in elementary school. They were just taken by surprise with regard to her presentation on that day because it was not within the scope of how she usually behaved; it was not even part of her history. A friend had a similar thing happen to her teen son in middle school, and he was somewhat battered due to his teaching team's lack in understanding about how to handle the sudden and unexpected worsening. In his case, the type of worsening he exhibited had not been part of his historical behavioral presentation as well. The intensity of both situations caused none in the room to consider the obvious; why not clear the room of the bystanders? Easily thought of in hindsight.
There are times when behaviors and physicality demonstrated by an autism affected student are outside of their known and usual behavior, and so the teachers are taken totally by surprise and do not know how to provide overall safety for everyone in the classroom environment. One thing which I have noted that contributes to the lack of preparedness for worsening behaviors is when intervention professionals deem a child with behavior history involving physical outburst, as "better"; such is done because of a short period without outburst. Intervention professionals might consider relating that a child seems to be improving but needs continued comprehensive services in case the challenging behaviors return.
Many teachers are blindsided because they have been told an autism affected child is "better" with regard to historical problem behaviors, when in fact the child is showing signs of temporary improvement. Coupled with this, is the problem of teachers not being informed with regard to the history of more problematic behaviors for an autism affected child, in case the behaviors return. Please remember that with each new school year comes an autism affected child's placement with a new teacher, and some within the autism spectrum experience behavior patterns that are seasonal; this means what a teacher experiences at the beginning of the school year with the child, might not be a lasting experience. As I say frequently, there is a unique ebb and flow to each and every autism affected persons' presentation.
Even with all things considered, the best made plans will not always meet the need in every way. Stuff happens. Real preparedness comes with knowing the behavior history of the severely autistic child, and many teachers are denied this knowledge base when preparing for an autism affected child's placement into their classroom. I recall the story of one teen who was deemed better and placed is a lesser of the least restricted environments:
"Not only did John Odgren deal with a characteristic presentation of Asperger's, he also was followed and treated for depression, ADHD, and bipolar - among other psychiatric conditions. The sad fact is that prior to the school stabbing, he was inappropriately transferred to a specialty program - intended for those who do not have potential for violence. This transfer was reported to be encouraged by his school district, while his parents raised objections. Furthermore, it appears that the district did not inform the new teachers of John Odgren's full psychiatric presentation.
If any educational or medical professional were to consider all of the conditions for which he was treated, there should have been a better understanding of the potential for aggression, violence and assault - given exposure to exacerbating conditions; ones unique to each individual psychiatric presentation. The conditions that would exacerbate John Odgren could only be understood by those who had some sort of ongoing understanding of what triggers his outbursts." (Improper Placement of John Odgren)
I have found myself in the position of insisting that new teacher's be aware of my own daughter's more problematic presentation, so that they might not be blindsided if the behaviors returned during the winter months. This was in a school Individual Education Plan (IEP) meeting setting where some professionals were deeming her "better" and ready for entry back into the public school setting. Yes she was doing so much better but I wanted to allow the teachers a little hindsight, just in case. As that school year progressed, it became important for the teachers to understand the worse part of my daughter's history.
Even when nothing seems to work, people just keep trying. Many years prior to the above IEP meeting no plan worked for my family, for very long anyway.
During one violent situation, I called 911 just because I did not know what else to do. 911 told me if I wanted to, I could have the police come and arrest my daughter. I called medical professionals and they told me the same thing. In my mind if you call the police on a mentally disturbed person, the likelihood is that they will get hurt; it might increase the violence. SWAT teams for psychotic people did not exist. I did not know if the police received training in order to understand, or even know what to do, in a situation such as ours. No response team for this kind of situation existed. I did not want to answer my daughter's violence with more violence because the Lord obviously gave me, her mother, a heart to practice grace in her situation. There was just no person to call for our particular situation on a very unfortunate day.
Sometimes even when there is someone to call for help things go bad anyway. In March 2010, one family in South Carolina lost a loved one after he jumped from an ambulance. This teen had been experiencing worsening autism and needed transport to a facility. This occurrence just seems to illustrate that sometimes no matter what you try, the outcome can involve the worst kind of tragedy.
Our culture has come a long way since the above reflection. I am encouraged that so many are growing in awareness with regard to all that is involved in including those more severely affected autism spectrum individuals in mainstream society. One thing I beg from the media and blogs is that, it might be important not to indict parents and professionals that end up in difficult situations because of the inherent challenges that entail all that is severe autism. Give some time before entering your verdicts as far as parenting ability or professional ability of the persons involved in less fortunate events.
About our journey with autism... At the very beginning I figured, no big deal, we'll get our daughter normalized in no time and pretty soon she would be asking for the car keys. It didn't quite work out that way and as my entire family and I continued to work through the ebb and flow of her unique walk, we fell madly in love with her in all her glory. This articles are just an outreach in case the information is helpful to anyone.
For a real life look at one case of severe autism, just Google "Hello, Dr. Wells". It is a sixteen year account of autism that turned to schizophrenic like psychosis. However, things are great now.
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