The young man in the video is my younger brother Rajon. Thank you for shining light on the incident, we appreciate all of the prayers and support we have been receiving.
My prayers are with you, your brother, and family. Hugs. So sorry this happened. I hope your brother does not have any I'll effects from this tragic incident. God bless.
Praying for him and your family. We have two children with autism. Our 6 year old is non-verbal and this and elopement is a parents biggest fear. The behavior of the police department is inexcusable.
As soon as the sister arrived and informed the officers that he had autism I feel the police should have asked for her assistance in calming her brother and the situation. They had a valuable resource available to them in someone that had experience and was educated. That poor boy was so scared 😢.
My daughter had/has an anxiety disorder and often times her "anxiety attacks" often present as anger and aggression. We had an incident when she was around 14, I felt unable to safely manage the situation so I contacted police, they came in yelling, threw her face down on the couch and handcuffed her, then told her to shut up and stop crying. As a parent reaching out for help I felt awful and regretful of seaking out help. A couple years later we had another incident and an officer arrived that had received training in managing non-criminal situations. He approached her in a calm manor and was able to aid her in de-escalation. Training is essential for officers, for the safety of everyone involved. One of our therapists always said, everyone works out of the toolbox they have, the more tools we have the better we can recognize and address situations appropriately.
Oh, my heart hurts hearing about this incident. Fear and aggression come from ignorance, and your channel contributes so much to autism awareness. Education is key.
Thank you for putting this video out.Hopefully it will help so it doesn't keep happening .My heart is broken for all involved .You all have an excellent idea so thank you
I've taken the time to look up my local PD's policy on special needs cases/calls. It says all the appropriate things, but until I speak to them in person, I won't know if they truly follow it.
The Sheriff’s department that I worked for, had an Autism registry. So that when their address came up on my screen, I , as a dispatcher could advise the deputies the subjects name and whether they were verbal or nonverbal, and instructions on how to approach the subject. Please feel free to contact me. Training is the key for sure.
As a Police Wife - I can assure you that many departments train on these things. OBviously there can always be more learning!! It is definitely an unfortunate incident and my heart breaks for the victim. My husband watches this vlog with me and has learned a lot and takes what he knows with him! 💙
Absolutely heartbreaking. My brothers girlfriend's 12 year old son was just diagnosed with Asperger's /Autism. I was able to send her to your channel and some of the others that you have recommended. Thank you for spreading the word. When I came across your channel years ago I didn't know anything about Autism. Thank you for educating me!
Thoughts as a Mom. Your compassion is so abundantly important. And awesome! Especially for the family of the young man. Like you said. I think the resolution is you guys and others showing different counties of officers the correct way of figuring out autistic children, grown ups, people... so they can correctly see a situation and de escalate properly. I have personally learned A LOT from your channel. To see the signs of stemming. And autistic people. Autistic humans! You all approached this video wonderfully!!! From all points of view. Great job. And hopefully more people learn from this.
The situation is so sad. There are so many people out there that don’t know anything about autism. I have to be honest, I was aware but didn’t know much about it. I stumbled on your podcast & have been following for about 2 years. It inspired me to follow Cooper’s voice with a younger child and both have given me compassion & insight to the daily lives of families, their siblings, progress and the roadblocks they run into. Continue on your journey, more people have to become educated. God Bless
This is heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing and being willing to provide education. I’ve worked for a CCB (community centered board - is what we call them in colorado) for 15 years. We support people who happen to have intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. We do an annual training with our police department to ensure that all officers understand how different each person is and how different their needs are. People we support volunteer to go and be part of the training so that they can see first hand what some of their individual characteristics are. It’s not a perfect system but it sure helps! Our agency has been on our county it for over 50 years and pretty much all the officers know they can call us anytime to assist. Very proud of our police department for being open and willing to gain more knowledge about those that we support! I’d be happy to put you in touch with the person who does the training if you would like!
Your channel has been such a eye opening experience to something I knew nothing about and now if I see something going on I feel like I'm educated enough to know what to look for and how to intervene if I see a autistic person needing help. All because of your channel. Education is the answer. Keep doing what your doing and educating the people that have no clue . Love your channel and thank you for you educating my family on something we knew nothing about. 😘
I myself am on the spectrum and I have come in several different occasions with police and I’ve only had one be not well. As someone like myself who is on the spectrum I do appreciate you guys talking more about this and I hope as a community we can fix the broken system. I’m definitely going to reach out to my local police and see how I can help for sure . Love the video you guys 💙
Our dear friend, a police chief in our area, always recommends preemptively alerting the local police department if you are the parent of a high-needs autistic (or similar) individual ESPECIALLY if they are non-verbal or an elopement risk or what have you. Just to have the local force aware that there is an individual or individuals who will not respond typically and may possibly pose a threat to themselves due to limitations, comprehension, elopement risk, etc. has been VASTLY valuable to them as they are dealing with a loss of manpower and resources in a lot of areas.
My issue with this is that police departments that already receive autism/disability training continue to have these situations arise. I’m not anti-police necessarily either, but I know for a fact that it’s an institutional/systemic problem and the best way for us, in the disability community, to stop this from happening is to get legislation passed that allows trained behavioral health workers to handle these situations compassionately, rather than police who are trained to be aggressive as a first resort and violent as a second.
To clarify, that’s my issue with the “more training” perspective. I’m always at a loss for words when these police brutality stories make the news because, there is absolutely a fix, but people resist change even if it’s for the better of the community, and backed by data. Love to the young man and his family.
Makes me so sad hearing about these things happening. As a a soon to be student youth worker (starting at Wrexham Glyndwr University on September 27th), I would love to go into work with Special Needs/Mental Health young people to help people like Abbie. You guys have inspired me to go down this route. Thank you Asa, Priscilla, Isiah and Abbie, much love to y’all ❤️💛🧡💚💙💜
I know this video was probably really hard to make but Thank You for bringing light to incidents like this. My heart hearts for this individual and his family. Police need more training! Period!
That's such a heartbreaking video... I have no words. Not even 2 seconds in this video, I went to see that heartbreaking video. I do agree with Asa, about "seeing Abbie" in that man... I honestly think society doesn't know what Autism is. I have been watching your channel for almost 4 years now, and your family has taught me so much about autism. :) If it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't know about stimming, the resources, and autism, non-verbal, sensory rooms. I am happy that you guys are raising awareness not only for Abbie but the autism community as well. Your family is an inspiration to me. :) Personally. I think you guys should do a video with your police department, and show them how to integrate Autism Awareness in their training nationwide. :) I think that honestly helps. :) I have seen this one article about an autistic individual that ran away from home, and the officer found the individual, and without hesitation, the officer went over and sat with the individual to comfort them. The news station in that area said that the officer who sat with the individual knew about Austim, and he knew how to approach it calmly.
That's scary. My niece is a runner, and fighter when she gets upset. She's in her mid 30's now and has lived in a group home due to violent behaviors. Even her assistant at the home has had people try to step in.
This video was so sad. My family and I are so scared for my niece. We have talked to our local police and fire department and asked what training they have for working with children whom are special needs especially autism. They have honestly said they don't have much training on it. We have told the police that she does have autism and other issues and they are now aware but not everyone thinks to do this. We need to get every department everywhere to know and learn what autism is and how to work with individuals who are autistic.
I completely agree with educating law enforcement. It is so very important for them to be able to easily recognize the difference between defiance and the inability to understand the commands being asked. Their jobs are to protect and serve everyone in their community, so perhaps extended exposure to a variety of neurological disorders, could help them to understand better how to handle these unfortunate situations in a much less traumatic and more efficient way.
I’ve been watching your channel a few yrs now and I could honestly say if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have a clue on recognition or how to approach someone with Autism. Your channel and Abby have taught me a lot so I’m gonna ask that you reach out to these officials, not jut police but rescue and others and offer maybe a program, show them what stemming looks like as well as other signs. I can’t imagine the fear this young man felt as well as how the police felt when they found out. There’s definitely not enough education out there. This is in part to children and/or adults having these conditions are pretty well guarded and they usually don’t run across this type situation. EDUCATION is the key❤️🙏❤️🙏
This makes my heart break and so sad there needs to be more training in law enforcement on how to handle autistic people and people with disabilities and what to do and handle situations that come up. Asa And Priscilla thank you for putting this out there I work in a 1st grade classroom and as a school aide your channel has helped me to understand and how to interact with the Autistic students and how to help them when situations arise and now I know what I can do because of your channel and videos Thank you for all you do you all are amazing.
BRAVO, Asa and Cilla!!! I saw the video. YES, your idea of creating a program or presentation that would help educate the public and first responders about the various forms, behaviors and needs of our autistic brothers and sisters is spectacular. And who better to do this than you two -- America's favorite family supporting autism. You two are the best!
This broke my heart to PIECES, A SPOON, STEMMING, please tell me where that cop felt threatened enough to use force, police need TRAINING PROPER TRAINING, I've worked with elderly handicap folks for YEARS with many different abilities, it just simply breaks my heart im glad you took this as educating others on seeing from your point of view! Thank you!
Thank you for speaking out about this. My cousin was tased 6 times and he died. He was not being combative or hurting anyone. I really hope PD start changing their training an take a look at what they are doing wrong.
Sending prayers for the young man his family and for the police department. I watch a lot of body cam but after watching your channel I could not watch this. I know a sweet young verbal autistic lady but when upset she can't communicate. I hope this helps bring more training for everyone and not just police. I have watched every video on this channel and have seen a little young lady not necessarily autistic but recognized the stemming right away. I think the parents were surprised and thankful I took time to talk to her. Kind of family so it wasn't a family I just went up to. Be kind to everyone is what I try to live by. Thank you for your hard work in education and love you all put out there.
Thank you for your level headed response to this. I completely agree that your platform may be able to help further education on this type of situation. I am a healthcare professional with a niece that was diagnosed on the spectrum many years ago. I am often identifying and helping manage situations in my work environments, including with undiagnosed colleagues who have struggled for many years to function in the community but they’ve been left to try and float on their own. You guys are amazing!!! 💜
A lot of further discussion needs to be held..... Well done ASA & Priscilla educating the world 🌎 is the only way to spread awareness on stimming/ behaviours,triggers etc.....
This is so sad in today society this should not happen. People shouldn’t judge without knowing the full story. The family of this poor man should demand a full investigation. You guys are so strong keep the good work up, we need more people like you on the world
sad this had to happen. yes Cilla hit this on the head with a video showing the whole spectrum to be used as an educational tool for police departments across the country. i hope the young man has no lingering problems from the incident.
I think this video is super important and you are correct that pointing fingers will get you nowhere. One place you can look to help is your city/town's Commission on Disabilities as it is called here in Massachusetts, but I know it is regional (and probably beyond) as well. Work with other disability organizations or as a family/individual and attend city functions or city council meetings. I am a board member for my city's Commission on Disability and hope to share this video and ask my fellow members how we can help. Things like this happen to people with disabilities and not just Autism. The point here is to be ACTIVE & EDUCATE!!!
Thank goodness for people like you guys, as a wife as a cope and a mother of two kids with assbuger. We were happy to here that you guys were not putting bad on the police. We as parents talk about are girls to my husband working with and have them watch video of yutube family like your family. It’s help a lot. And we b feel better now when Are kids are not with us or family
i miss my parents when i watch you and Priscilla parenting Abbs. my parents were not touchy feely at all, (it was their generation, 40's and 50's) but my mother was with me after i would have a seizure. you two are just super.
I also am a mother of a young man who is on the spectrum. My son is verbal, he also deals with mental illness. He was in his late teens for a similar situation. It took six officers to "take him down". This was in the early 2000s. As an adult he is still triggered and petrified of police. I watched the video and my heart aches for both him and his family.
Being a mom of an autistic daughter and wife of a police Captain in NY I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your honesty and for using this platform in which you created it for...TO EDUCATE! Thank you for sharing facts and not pointing fingers or spewing anger as many in society rush to do. It's not about placing blame but about EDUCATING ourselves and each other. I agree that all Law Enforcement & first responders should be trained, but unfortunately politics and money get in the way of that all happening almost everywhere you go. Please keep educating and staying true to your mission on this platform. I am so grateful that I stumbled upon your channel a year and a half ago......your whole family (& Summer😊) have helped me in countless ways through obstacles with my own sweet 17 y/o girl. Autism awareness isn't only for the month of April. It is for every single day. Many blessings to you all XOXO
You did great addressing this issue. I do not have a family member that is autistic, but I have always had a passion for people that have disabilities whether physical, mental or neurological. I think you would be great advocates for a video of some sort and I stand behind you both in what you do to raise awareness. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
The county i live in, the sheriff's department has a beautiful SUV with autism awareness on one side and downs syndrome awareness on the other. When I seen it at my son's school (he was in middle school, now in high school) I almost cried. This is definitely an excellent opportunity to spread awareness and to educate more people (police, firefighters, everyone)!
I just wanted to add that just because someone has mental health issues does not automatically mean that they are a threat to anyone. There are so many different faces to mental health issues as well and not everyone experiences the same symptoms and deals with it in the same way.
I was shocked to see that the taser was used soooo many times when after the 2nd time, it certainly was not working. It scares me to think about what if this young man has a seizure disorder? What would all those taser injections do to someone in that predicament? This definitely needs attention urgently! Thank you for sharing and discussing this topic!!!
This is my son his name is Rajon and he is very gentle and loving. Thank yall for acknowledging and commenting. He had a spoon in his hand. Please reach out i want to do something to help our community.
100% agree that there needs to be better training for the police when it comes to autism or mental health illnesses!! They need to have a team/force that they can deploy for things like this, that are trained in mental health awareness and autism.
I agree for both adult autistic or have mental health illness like i got schizophrenia when im on a dellusional or hearing voices i can shout obcenities
Deeply concerning stuff. You two are amazing advocates and educators, and I hope you’ll be provided with the opportunity to share your insights with first responders and their trainers so that they can learn how better to respond to people like that man.
Since that was Mayor Bottoms commenting. It was Fulton County Atlanta. The APD are warn thin with unrest in Atlanta. No excuse …. You are right it’s training. Until found you. I was definitely uneducated with autism. Watching you almost everyday definitely gave me a whole new perspective. I hope you can give some of your knowledge to help all police departments. Thank you for the people you are to Abbie
As a parent of a son 28 yrs. Old on the autism spectrum that is almost 6 ft tall and 350pds. this is so scary and it breaks my heart. I think it would be absolutely wonderful if you 2 would make a teaching video and send to every police station so they all could be trained the same. Please think about it
I could not even watch the whole video. Sickens my stomach to know my daughter could be treated like this. I feel for him and his family. Thank you for all your videos and teaching people about our kids. My prayers are with this family.
I feel like the response of tasering the man 6 times was in appropriate even if it was just mental health issues and not just autism, I have anxiety and when I’m in panic mode agression makes me worse not better.
Education is the best thing in any situation like this. I'm so glad you are helping to create better lives for people with different abilities. I've had issues when a cop didn't understand that I couldn't see where he was pointing. I don't look visually impaired, but I am. I do very well for the most part, but you can't just point and expect me to know what you are pointing at. LOVE and PRAYERS ALWAYS from Gainesville Florida.❤🙏😊🙏❤.
This breaks my heart as soon as i saw the title my stomach just dropped as im on the Spectrum also and have mild CP, I hope this video go viral and the 2 best people to share this video is you because you do so much for everyone worldwide and are amazing mentors for everyone all the best Andy UK.
My heart broke when you said you could see Abbie in that man. I agree with you more training in Autism is need all over the world. And agree its not mental health. I have worked with children with Autism and they are some of the most amazing people I have ever spent time with. I hope you can sit down and work with all areas of the emergency services to help them notice Autism and how to deal with it correctly
I can honestly say that watching ur videos for years has help me n others around me recognize and handle the visible signs of Autism and with that being said, THANK U GUYS SOOOOOOOOO FREAKED MUCH ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Yes you are correct no fingers should be pointed at anyone and better education is much needed. We are not sure what officers go thru and have to react to in a timely fashion but on the other hand this man was innocent, helpless and it is heart breaking. I am so glad you have offered to help and hopefully better training will be offered in all departments. I am sure there are officers with family members who are autistic and want this to happen also.
This really breaks my heart for that man. Your absolutely right Asa police force needs the awareness and learn about people with Autism. I’m totally angry for this situation.
I have to say, I’m torn. First, I’m truly heartbroken for this young man and his family. At the same time, I can understand the trepidation that the officers felt. The officers don’t know what they are coming up on. They have to go by what the dispatcher tells them. The officers really didn’t know if the young man was high, disabled, mentally ill or non cooperative. I do feel that as soon as the family (sister from what I could get front where video), came on the scene, they should have given her the opportunity to deescalate the situation. At no time did they give those who knew him, the chance to help him calm down. Shame on anyone who blames the family for this young man being out on his own. Unless you walk a mile in their shoes, don’t judge. For those who made comments about that a “mentally ill” person should not be allowed out of the house. Please people, educate yourself. I’m willing to bet that you interact with someone with mental illness every single day. I would like more informations out what happened at he was put in the cruiser. Was he taken to the hospital? Was he placed in a cell? What happened to him. Is he traumatized? It’s a horrible situation all the way around. I hope these officers get better training and the family is supported throughout this ordeal. 🥲🥲🥲 Thank you for sharing this very important issue. It is hardly the first time this has happened. Elijah McCalin. He was walking home and had headphones on. He was on the spectrum and verbal but still he is dead. We, as a society, need to do better.
I can’t bring myself to watch the video. My step-sons are 19 and 11 and I just couldn’t bear if something like this happened to them. The 19 year old is in a group home due to behavioral issues and they have had to call the police for him. Fortunately they have a special number with special responders for them. The 11 year old is an eloper and his community police know who he is and where he lives. Our community has an officer with a child on the spectrum as well as a judge. I believe that we are fortunate for that. I hope that this will bring some level of awareness and help police officers get the training they need to at least be able to know that they need to call the right help. Bless you guys for all that you are doing to bring awareness to autism.
Thank you for not showing it. I couldn't have handled that it was bad enough hearing it. The whole world needs more education. One thing that bugs me is how autism is usually seen as a childhood condition. Autistic adults exist and we need support too. I wonder if schools teach about disabilities/conditions too as that would help to prevent a lot of bullying too.
I have a nephew with autism who is also biracial. He’s only 11 and he is verbal, but him having a bad encounter with police has been a worry for years.
Maybe you too, or his parents, can go to the local PD and voice your concerns and give them incentive to also add this into their training. Training for this should be added everywhere.
Thank you for your desire to educate and make positive changes. In my area we have a very high amount of deaf people, they have their own culture and may sometimes be perceived wrong. They can’t hear so would not respond. Imagine being hurt and unable to communicate that. Our emergency services and hospitals have been educated. Same for non communicating autism. The key is EDUCATION. The spectrum on autism is so large and each individual their own person that it’s sometimes difficult to identify. Maybe introduce your loved ones to the local services, that would help both groups. Mental health issues are a whole different situation and for the most part individuals with autism do not have a ‘mental health’ issue but I think the lack of community understanding between the two creates problems. Yes there are people (adults) with more mental health issues than autism and some are even posting on RUclips which leads to misinformation but thanks to your channel it’s a more informative outlet and you actually seek to educate. ❤️
I think one of the problems is that more and more I am seeing evidence that tasers are no longer considered, by the police, as a defense weapon, but as a compliance tool. They use more and more tases to make the person comply more quickly. (In reality if you are in so much pain, you can't even think to comply.)
i am in a small community with limited things for special needs ut it is my passion. i am feeling for this family. I will pray and share this video thanks for sharing
Hello Maass Family! I love you so so much! Great vlog as always!! Thanks for sharing love. expantace and awareness for Autism!! That is awful! It breaks my heart!!
I like these kinds of videos not the reason why you had to make the video but the way you are bringing it to everyone's attention to try and solve this 😊.
This is so hurtful and sad on every level! I’m with you on education, education, education…. This would solve not only this, but many issues in this world! Well done on not being judgmental, and offering a solution!
This is so heart breaking!!! As the kid is walking away they are still tasering him!!! All police need training- intervention training without weapons!!! We had a situation in my community where a mother much smaller than the police was shot and killed in front of her children because she was holding a knife. Not a spoon- but still she was not a threat… something HAS to change!
What bothers me is that they kept saying ma’am we understand, but they continued to tase him and then tackle him and the choke hold isn’t even supposed to be used anymore but they do, after acknowledging that she “isn’t helping things” -heartbreaking
Jenny I think the officers saying "we understand" means that they understand that he has "autism" but it does not mean that they understand anything about autism. It's a very sad situation and my heart goes out to that poor boy and his family but... I also understand that police officers lives are constantly in danger and what we don't understand scares us. Not knowing how that boy might act/react and him not responding to their commands (which they probably don't understand and see as refusal to co-operate), they had to tase him to try and restrain him. Education is desperately needed for first responders.
😡 they had him in a choke hold? I'd be incredibly pist if that were my child. No reason for it. They took it way too far. Id be suing someone for damages.
@@patriciaharkin1571 by saying we understand; they acknowledged that they were dealing with someone who had a disability, yet they carried on as if they didn’t know. There’s absolutely no excuse at that point. Im tired of the “ we need more education” line- no they need just a mustard seed of empathy and a hairs breadth of common sense.
In my area, our local mental health offices do service those with autism. I understand your point that autism is a neurological disorder, completely. I’m from a smaller community where ABA therapist don’t exist, thus mental health is utilized. Mostly it’s about training the parents or caregivers to understand autism instead of treating the patient at first, but also help with the patient’s coping skills and understanding of the world around them. Thank you for sharing this and your lives to help educate.
Can’t watch the video. It’s heartbreaking 💔. Thank you for bringing to attention. Thank you so much for helping. I am not against police officers either as they are just human and we live in a very scary world but they should clearly know the difference between someone who is dangerous and someone with autism. One of the officers admitted the poor lad had autism. Come on really. So terrible. Imagine it’s like tasing a 2 year old child.
thank you for the awareness this can happen in a blink of an eye being a disability worker. We need so much education for people with a disability. Cant wait to see what you come up with.
I watched the video in it’s entirety and I found myself getting sick to my stomach each and every time I heard the tasers going off. My heart broke after the young man got tased and held onto the taser lines, holding up the lines towards the officer as if to ask them to help him to take them off. I believe that all police departments need to have training on how to approach and deal with any individual with special needs, ESPECIALLY NONVERBAL AUTISM. I saw the footage and hearing the mother scream that he is Autistic and nonverbal and the officers STILL continue to taser him with 2 taser guns while also having him on the ground hearing the young man cry made me so angry and sad. I haven’t watched your video on this in it’s entirety yet, I saw the video title and had to come into the comments and voice how I felt while watching the footage of what happened to this young man. What really killed me along with him trying to ask for the lines to be taken off was when the officers were yelling “what is your name” and the young man made noises as most nonverbal individuals do. That should have been a sign that he can’t speak and explain what he is doing or what his name is. He had a freaking soup ladle in his hand, not a weapon. You can see him stimming with the ladle as well as with his right hand which was empty. I am still so upset and it has been hours since I watched the footage. I truly wish that the police officers in this situation knew how to better help him, I hope that going forward ALL departments across the country find a way to train their emergency responders the best ways to deal with and approach individuals with special needs. I personally do not feel being tasered with 2 taser guns was needed, the continuation of being tasered for that long was overkill and shouldn’t have happened to begin with. My thoughts go out to the young man. I wish I could hug him and tell him how sorry I feel that this happened. Thank you so much Asa and Pricilla for not only making your video on this but for bringing so much awareness to others on the real life issues that come up with having a loved one with nonverbal autism and special needs. Much love to you both!
I live in Minnesota and where they passed a bill. Last year that all Public Safety Officers weather it is a police officer, firefighters, EMTs, and medical professionals all have to go through a 4 hour Autism training yearly
I am an education assistant i think in the US you call us PARAs First of all this breaks my heart into a million pieces, but thank you for tackling this subject the way you did.
But the part where on officer said, “Look at you boy” after discussing the one cop having no other option but to tackling him, was inappropriate. Even if that was his last resort, no one should compliment that!
I worked in a mental health emergency intake center for 5 years. It is a requirement to have your own mental health issues to work there. I still get calls because no one else knows the bare minimum about how to support an individual on the spectrum. Clinicians would sometimes suspect autism etc but I was the only person on any shift with a background in it. Thankfully the school district I work in has police liaison officers in the schools and we are making it a big point for those officers and our students to meet and build up some rapport. Hopefully the officers see a variety of representations of individuals on the spectrum and can start to at least think about that possibility - and our students can get comfortable with police officers. Thank you for sharing this.
As the father of a 17yo and 6 foot tall soon to be young man with nonverbal autism, intellectual disability and comorbid mental health issues this hits too close to home for me to watch that video and be able to sleep tonight. It’s literally the stuff of my nightmares. We have had recent interactions with first responders and ER staff though. So far he hasn’t had to be forcefully subdued like that - thank God. When elopements happen 911 is called ASAP and we invoke Project Lifesaver protocols with hope that things like that don’t happen.
ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOU BOTH, AND THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING ON THIS SPECIFIC TOPIC. ( AND, POOR "DEPUTY DAN", HAPPY HE WENT FOR MEDICAL ATTENTION FOR HIS POOR LITTLE KNEE AND POOR LITTLE ROAD RASH, WHEN HE WAS TRYING HIS 10TH GRADE FAVORITE WRESTLING MOVE! ABSOULETY PATHETIC, DISGUSTING, AND IGNORANT,.. ON "OFFICER HAMPBELL" AND THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENTS BEHALF). PRAYERS TO THE YOUNG MAN AND HIS FAMILY. AND PRAYING FOR PROPER TRAINING TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN ALL DEPARTMENTS. SO HEART BREAKING. MUCH LOVE TO YOU AND THE FAMILY 💞
The young man in the video is my younger brother Rajon. Thank you for shining light on the incident, we appreciate all of the prayers and support we have been receiving.
My prayers are with you, your brother, and family. Hugs. So sorry this happened. I hope your brother does not have any I'll effects from this tragic incident. God bless.
Praying for him and your family. We have two children with autism. Our 6 year old is non-verbal and this and elopement is a parents biggest fear. The behavior of the police department is inexcusable.
I seen love and healing to ur family R Cherry ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Hugs 🤗
😩😢😢
As soon as the sister arrived and informed the officers that he had autism I feel the police should have asked for her assistance in calming her brother and the situation. They had a valuable resource available to them in someone that had experience and was educated. That poor boy was so scared 😢.
Yes! Exactly what I was thinking the whole time.
I agree 100%
My daughter had/has an anxiety disorder and often times her "anxiety attacks" often present as anger and aggression. We had an incident when she was around 14, I felt unable to safely manage the situation so I contacted police, they came in yelling, threw her face down on the couch and handcuffed her, then told her to shut up and stop crying. As a parent reaching out for help I felt awful and regretful of seaking out help. A couple years later we had another incident and an officer arrived that had received training in managing non-criminal situations. He approached her in a calm manor and was able to aid her in de-escalation. Training is essential for officers, for the safety of everyone involved. One of our therapists always said, everyone works out of the toolbox they have, the more tools we have the better we can recognize and address situations appropriately.
I LOVE that you all are using your platform to help educate! Cops can’t respond to what they don’t know/understand. Education is key!
Oh, my heart hurts hearing about this incident. Fear and aggression come from ignorance, and your channel contributes so much to autism awareness. Education is key.
Thank you for putting this video out.Hopefully it will help so it doesn't keep happening .My heart is broken for all involved .You all have an excellent idea so thank you
Whats sad is this is not the first time an officer has been in this situation. Officers need more training.
Elijah McClain is a prime example, may he Rest In Peace.
True and it will continue until more education and training.
@@MadeaNH His mother said in an interview that he wasn’t autistic
@@BrookeKatherine. where did you see this interview? His sister stated clearly in the video that he was autistic and nonverbal.
@@MadeaNH it was on the news. Not sure which station but I’m sure you can find it if you google it.
I see this as an opportunity to sit with an officer and maybe ask the important questions, I think that would be a great video.
I've taken the time to look up my local PD's policy on special needs cases/calls. It says all the appropriate things, but until I speak to them in person, I won't know if they truly follow it.
The Sheriff’s department that I worked for, had an Autism registry. So that when their address came up on my screen, I , as a dispatcher could advise the deputies the subjects name and whether they were verbal or nonverbal, and instructions on how to approach the subject. Please feel free to contact me. Training is the key for sure.
Needs to have person picture small town cops should remember faces big cities I don't no
Thats a great idea.
As a Police Wife - I can assure you that many departments train on these things. OBviously there can always be more learning!! It is definitely an unfortunate incident and my heart breaks for the victim. My husband watches this vlog with me and has learned a lot and takes what he knows with him! 💙
💙💙💙
Not all heroes wear capes, you and your husband are definitely 2 heroes. Thank you 💜
You should have an affair!
Thank goodness he didn’t have a heart attack, that happens. Nice that you both have an understanding and using this as an educational opportunity.
I know, this could have ended up way worse.
Absolutely heartbreaking. My brothers girlfriend's 12 year old son was just diagnosed with Asperger's /Autism. I was able to send her to your channel and some of the others that you have recommended. Thank you for spreading the word. When I came across your channel years ago I didn't know anything about Autism. Thank you for educating me!
Thoughts as a Mom. Your compassion is so abundantly important. And awesome! Especially for the family of the young man. Like you said. I think the resolution is you guys and others showing different counties of officers the correct way of figuring out autistic children, grown ups, people... so they can correctly see a situation and de escalate properly. I have personally learned A LOT from your channel. To see the signs of stemming. And autistic people. Autistic humans! You all approached this video wonderfully!!! From all points of view. Great job. And hopefully more people learn from this.
This is why I look up to your family it’s all about reaching out and helping individuals learn and become educated thanks again
The situation is so sad. There are so many people out there that don’t know anything about autism. I have to be honest, I was aware but didn’t know much about it. I stumbled on your podcast & have been following for about 2 years. It inspired me to follow Cooper’s voice with a younger child and both have given me compassion & insight to the daily lives of families, their siblings, progress and the roadblocks they run into. Continue on your journey, more people have to become educated. God Bless
This is heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing and being willing to provide education. I’ve worked for a CCB (community centered board - is what we call them in colorado) for 15 years. We support people who happen to have intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. We do an annual training with our police department to ensure that all officers understand how different each person is and how different their needs are. People we support volunteer to go and be part of the training so that they can see first hand what some of their individual characteristics are. It’s not a perfect system but it sure helps! Our agency has been on our county it for over 50 years and pretty much all the officers know they can call us anytime to assist. Very proud of our police department for being open and willing to gain more knowledge about those that we support! I’d be happy to put you in touch with the person who does the training if you would like!
Heartbreaking 💔🥺 Loved how you guys addressed this situation with so much love and compassion 🙏🏽
Your channel has been such a eye opening experience to something I knew nothing about and now if I see something going on I feel like I'm educated enough to know what to look for and how to intervene if I see a autistic person needing help. All because of your channel. Education is the answer. Keep doing what your doing and educating the people that have no clue . Love your channel and thank you for you educating my family on something we knew nothing about. 😘
I myself am on the spectrum and I have come in several different occasions with police and I’ve only had one be not well. As someone like myself who is on the spectrum I do appreciate you guys talking more about this and I hope as a community we can fix the broken system. I’m definitely going to reach out to my local police and see how I can help for sure . Love the video you guys 💙
Our dear friend, a police chief in our area, always recommends preemptively alerting the local police department if you are the parent of a high-needs autistic (or similar) individual ESPECIALLY if they are non-verbal or an elopement risk or what have you. Just to have the local force aware that there is an individual or individuals who will not respond typically and may possibly pose a threat to themselves due to limitations, comprehension, elopement risk, etc. has been VASTLY valuable to them as they are dealing with a loss of manpower and resources in a lot of areas.
My issue with this is that police departments that already receive autism/disability training continue to have these situations arise. I’m not anti-police necessarily either, but I know for a fact that it’s an institutional/systemic problem and the best way for us, in the disability community, to stop this from happening is to get legislation passed that allows trained behavioral health workers to handle these situations compassionately, rather than police who are trained to be aggressive as a first resort and violent as a second.
To clarify, that’s my issue with the “more training” perspective. I’m always at a loss for words when these police brutality stories make the news because, there is absolutely a fix, but people resist change even if it’s for the better of the community, and backed by data. Love to the young man and his family.
Makes me so sad hearing about these things happening. As a a soon to be student youth worker (starting at Wrexham Glyndwr University on September 27th), I would love to go into work with Special Needs/Mental Health young people to help people like Abbie. You guys have inspired me to go down this route. Thank you Asa, Priscilla, Isiah and Abbie, much love to y’all ❤️💛🧡💚💙💜
I know this video was probably really hard to make but Thank You for bringing light to incidents like this. My heart hearts for this individual and his family. Police need more training! Period!
That's such a heartbreaking video... I have no words. Not even 2 seconds in this video, I went to see that heartbreaking video. I do agree with Asa, about "seeing Abbie" in that man... I honestly think society doesn't know what Autism is. I have been watching your channel for almost 4 years now, and your family has taught me so much about autism. :) If it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't know about stimming, the resources, and autism, non-verbal, sensory rooms. I am happy that you guys are raising awareness not only for Abbie but the autism community as well. Your family is an inspiration to me. :)
Personally. I think you guys should do a video with your police department, and show them how to integrate Autism Awareness in their training nationwide. :) I think that honestly helps. :)
I have seen this one article about an autistic individual that ran away from home, and the officer found the individual, and without hesitation, the officer went over and sat with the individual to comfort them. The news station in that area said that the officer who sat with the individual knew about Austim, and he knew how to approach it calmly.
That's scary. My niece is a runner, and fighter when she gets upset. She's in her mid 30's now and has lived in a group home due to violent behaviors. Even her assistant at the home has had people try to step in.
This video was so sad. My family and I are so scared for my niece. We have talked to our local police and fire department and asked what training they have for working with children whom are special needs especially autism. They have honestly said they don't have much training on it. We have told the police that she does have autism and other issues and they are now aware but not everyone thinks to do this. We need to get every department everywhere to know and learn what autism is and how to work with individuals who are autistic.
Thank you for bringing awareness. My heart breaks for that man and his family.
I completely agree with educating law enforcement. It is so very important for them to be able to easily recognize the difference between defiance and the inability to understand the commands being asked. Their jobs are to protect and serve everyone in their community, so perhaps extended exposure to a variety of neurological disorders, could help them to understand better how to handle these unfortunate situations in a much less traumatic and more efficient way.
I’ve been watching your channel a few yrs now and I could honestly say if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have a clue on recognition or how to approach someone with Autism. Your channel and Abby have taught me a lot so I’m gonna ask that you reach out to these officials, not jut police but rescue and others and offer maybe a program, show them what stemming looks like as well as other signs. I can’t imagine the fear this young man felt as well as how the police felt when they found out. There’s definitely not enough education out there. This is in part to children and/or adults having these conditions are pretty well guarded and they usually don’t run across this type situation. EDUCATION is the key❤️🙏❤️🙏
This makes my heart break and so sad there needs to be more training in law enforcement on how to handle autistic people and people with disabilities and what to do and handle situations that come up. Asa And Priscilla thank you for putting this out there I work in a 1st grade classroom and as a school aide your channel has helped me to understand and how to interact with the Autistic students and how to help them when situations arise and now I know what I can do because of your channel and videos Thank you for all you do you all are amazing.
BRAVO, Asa and Cilla!!! I saw the video. YES, your idea of creating a program or presentation that would help educate the public and first responders about the various forms, behaviors and needs of our autistic brothers and sisters is spectacular. And who better to do this than you two -- America's favorite family supporting autism. You two are the best!
This broke my heart to PIECES, A SPOON, STEMMING, please tell me where that cop felt threatened enough to use force, police need TRAINING PROPER TRAINING, I've worked with elderly handicap folks for YEARS with many different abilities, it just simply breaks my heart im glad you took this as educating others on seeing from your point of view!
Thank you!
Thank you for speaking out about this. My cousin was tased 6 times and he died. He was not being combative or hurting anyone. I really hope PD start changing their training an take a look at what they are doing wrong.
Sending prayers for the young man his family and for the police department. I watch a lot of body cam but after watching your channel I could not watch this. I know a sweet young verbal autistic lady but when upset she can't communicate. I hope this helps bring more training for everyone and not just police. I have watched every video on this channel and have seen a little young lady not necessarily autistic but recognized the stemming right away. I think the parents were surprised and thankful I took time to talk to her. Kind of family so it wasn't a family I just went up to. Be kind to everyone is what I try to live by. Thank you for your hard work in education and love you all put out there.
So tragic. Education is definitely key. Thank You for continuing to bring these issues to light
Thank you for covering this to encourage us as community and individuals to help us and the world be better
I watched the video and pictured abbie , thats so heartbreaking. Im so glad you educate people everyday!
I love how you phrased your opinions and views! This needs to be educated more and you guys are doing a great job doing that already.
I have 2 kids on the spectrum and this breaks my hearts. Training NEEDS to be incorporated, not only in law enforcement but medical workers as well!
Thank you for your level headed response to this. I completely agree that your platform may be able to help further education on this type of situation.
I am a healthcare professional with a niece that was diagnosed on the spectrum many years ago. I am often identifying and helping manage situations in my work environments, including with undiagnosed colleagues who have struggled for many years to function in the community but they’ve been left to try and float on their own.
You guys are amazing!!! 💜
How heartbreaking…thank you for using your platform to continue to educate all of us and spread the awareness!
So sad! Thank you for this video. Yes our officers need training. It goes higher up in the force.
A lot of further discussion needs to be held.....
Well done ASA & Priscilla educating the world 🌎 is the only way to spread awareness on stimming/ behaviours,triggers etc.....
This is so sad in today society this should not happen. People shouldn’t judge without knowing the full story. The family of this poor man should demand a full investigation.
You guys are so strong keep the good work up, we need more people like you on the world
sad this had to happen. yes Cilla hit this on the head with a video showing the whole spectrum to be used as an educational tool for police departments across the country. i hope the young man has no lingering problems from the incident.
I agree with you, training is needed. I have learned so much from watching FathetingAutism that when I am out I recognize autism behavior.
I think this video is super important and you are correct that pointing fingers will get you nowhere. One place you can look to help is your city/town's Commission on Disabilities as it is called here in Massachusetts, but I know it is regional (and probably beyond) as well. Work with other disability organizations or as a family/individual and attend city functions or city council meetings. I am a board member for my city's Commission on Disability and hope to share this video and ask my fellow members how we can help. Things like this happen to people with disabilities and not just Autism. The point here is to be ACTIVE & EDUCATE!!!
Thank goodness for people like you guys, as a wife as a cope and a mother of two kids with assbuger. We were happy to here that you guys were not putting bad on the police. We as parents talk about are girls to my husband working with and have them watch video of yutube family like your family. It’s help a lot. And we b feel better now when Are kids are not with us or family
i miss my parents when i watch you and Priscilla parenting Abbs. my parents were not touchy feely at all, (it was their generation, 40's and 50's) but my mother was with me after i would have a seizure. you two are just super.
A lot of people don’t even realize there are people in this world that can’t speak and don’t understand simple commands
I also am a mother of a young man who is on the spectrum. My son is verbal, he also deals with mental illness. He was in his late teens for a similar situation. It took six officers to "take him down". This was in the early 2000s. As an adult he is still triggered and petrified of police.
I watched the video and my heart aches for both him and his family.
I can only say thank you for all you do on your platform .
Being a mom of an autistic daughter and wife of a police Captain in NY I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your honesty and for using this platform in which you created it for...TO EDUCATE! Thank you for sharing facts and not pointing fingers or spewing anger as many in society rush to do. It's not about placing blame but about EDUCATING ourselves and each other. I agree that all Law Enforcement & first responders should be trained, but unfortunately politics and money get in the way of that all happening almost everywhere you go. Please keep educating and staying true to your mission on this platform. I am so grateful that I stumbled upon your channel a year and a half ago......your whole family (& Summer😊) have helped me in countless ways through obstacles with my own sweet 17 y/o girl. Autism awareness isn't only for the month of April. It is for every single day. Many blessings to you all XOXO
You did great addressing this issue. I do not have a family member that is autistic, but I have always had a passion for people that have disabilities whether physical, mental or neurological. I think you would be great advocates for a video of some sort and I stand behind you both in what you do to raise awareness. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
The county i live in, the sheriff's department has a beautiful SUV with autism awareness on one side and downs syndrome awareness on the other. When I seen it at my son's school (he was in middle school, now in high school) I almost cried.
This is definitely an excellent opportunity to spread awareness and to educate more people (police, firefighters, everyone)!
Wow that’s awesome!!
I just wanted to add that just because someone has mental health issues does not automatically mean that they are a threat to anyone. There are so many different faces to mental health issues as well and not everyone experiences the same symptoms and deals with it in the same way.
I was shocked to see that the taser was used soooo many times when after the 2nd time, it certainly was not working. It scares me to think about what if this young man has a seizure disorder? What would all those taser injections do to someone in that predicament? This definitely needs attention urgently! Thank you for sharing and discussing this topic!!!
This is my son his name is Rajon and he is very gentle and loving. Thank yall for acknowledging and commenting. He had a spoon in his hand. Please reach out i want to do something to help our community.
Love you guys. You did an awesome job talking about this. Thank you for being you! ❤️
I try watching the video it will not play. I love you guys. People needs to be educated about Autism and other issues kids and grown-up.
100% agree that there needs to be better training for the police when it comes to autism or mental health illnesses!! They need to have a team/force that they can deploy for things like this, that are trained in mental health awareness and autism.
I agree for both adult autistic or have mental health illness like i got schizophrenia when im on a dellusional or hearing voices i can shout obcenities
I had trouble watching that video... I felt rage, fear, and sadness seeing what the officers did. Like you guys said, that could've been my kid.
Deeply concerning stuff. You two are amazing advocates and educators, and I hope you’ll be provided with the opportunity to share your insights with first responders and their trainers so that they can learn how better to respond to people like that man.
Since that was Mayor Bottoms commenting. It was Fulton County Atlanta. The APD are warn thin with unrest in Atlanta. No excuse …. You are right it’s training. Until found you. I was definitely uneducated with autism. Watching you almost everyday definitely gave me a whole new perspective. I hope you can give some of your knowledge to help all police departments. Thank you for the people you are to Abbie
As a parent of a son 28 yrs. Old on the autism spectrum that is almost 6 ft tall and 350pds. this is so scary and it breaks my heart. I think it would be absolutely wonderful if you 2 would make a teaching video and send to every police station so they all could be trained the same. Please think about it
My nephew is 20 and 6 ft looks like a man it's so scary to think he could be in this situation 😔
@@85kerryw your nephew is a man.... autistic or not, you can’t take that from the guy.
@@dexterdouglas yes I know he's a man but in his head he's a child do a police man coming at him demanding him to do things he wouldn't understand
I could not even watch the whole video. Sickens my stomach to know my daughter could be treated like this. I feel for him and his family. Thank you for all your videos and teaching people about our kids. My prayers are with this family.
I feel like the response of tasering the man 6 times was in appropriate even if it was just mental health issues and not just autism, I have anxiety and when I’m in panic mode agression makes me worse not better.
Education is the best thing in any situation like this. I'm so glad you are helping to create better lives for people with different abilities. I've had issues when a cop didn't understand that I couldn't see where he was pointing. I don't look visually impaired, but I am. I do very well for the most part, but you can't just point and expect me to know what you are pointing at. LOVE and PRAYERS ALWAYS from Gainesville Florida.❤🙏😊🙏❤.
This breaks my heart as soon as i saw the title my stomach just dropped as im on the Spectrum also and have mild CP, I hope this video go viral and the 2 best people to share this video is you because you do so much for everyone worldwide and are amazing mentors for everyone all the best Andy UK.
My heart broke when you said you could see Abbie in that man. I agree with you more training in Autism is need all over the world. And agree its not mental health. I have worked with children with Autism and they are some of the most amazing people I have ever spent time with. I hope you can sit down and work with all areas of the emergency services to help them notice Autism and how to deal with it correctly
When I was out one day we saw a person on the spectrum with a t-shirt relaying his symptoms. I thought that was brilliant.
I can honestly say that watching ur videos for years has help me n others around me recognize and handle the visible signs of Autism and with that being said, THANK U GUYS SOOOOOOOOO FREAKED MUCH ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Those police should know that if someone is non-verbal, there’s more to it than violence, drugs and alcohol.
How is a spoon dangerous?
I commented below prior to watching you vlog so much of it was covered by you guys and seems I was on the right track. Thanks
My heart breaks for
him and family
Yes you are correct no fingers should be pointed at anyone and better education is much needed. We are not sure what officers go thru and have to react to in a timely fashion but on the other hand this man was innocent, helpless and it is heart breaking. I am so glad you have offered to help and hopefully better training will be offered in all departments. I am sure there are officers with family members who are autistic and want this to happen also.
This really breaks my heart for that man. Your absolutely right Asa police force needs the awareness and learn about people with Autism. I’m totally angry for this situation.
I have to say, I’m torn. First, I’m truly heartbroken for this young man and his family. At the same time, I can understand the trepidation that the officers felt. The officers don’t know what they are coming up on. They have to go by what the dispatcher tells them. The officers really didn’t know if the young man was high, disabled, mentally ill or non cooperative. I do feel that as soon as the family (sister from what I could get front where video), came on the scene, they should have given her the opportunity to deescalate the situation. At no time did they give those who knew him, the chance to help him calm down.
Shame on anyone who blames the family for this young man being out on his own. Unless you walk a mile in their shoes, don’t judge. For those who made comments about that a “mentally ill” person should not be allowed out of the house. Please people, educate yourself. I’m willing to bet that you interact with someone with mental illness every single day.
I would like more informations out what happened at he was put in the cruiser. Was he taken to the hospital? Was he placed in a cell? What happened to him. Is he traumatized?
It’s a horrible situation all the way around. I hope these officers get better training and the family is supported throughout this ordeal. 🥲🥲🥲
Thank you for sharing this very important issue. It is hardly the first time this has happened. Elijah McCalin. He was walking home and had headphones on. He was on the spectrum and verbal but still he is dead. We, as a society, need to do better.
He was taken to the hospital for Evaluation where his mom met him and took him home after they determined there were no injuries from the taser
They went ham on the taser. Not acceptable in any way.
I can’t bring myself to watch the video. My step-sons are 19 and 11 and I just couldn’t bear if something like this happened to them. The 19 year old is in a group home due to behavioral issues and they have had to call the police for him. Fortunately they have a special number with special responders for them. The 11 year old is an eloper and his community police know who he is and where he lives. Our community has an officer with a child on the spectrum as well as a judge. I believe that we are fortunate for that. I hope that this will bring some level of awareness and help police officers get the training they need to at least be able to know that they need to call the right help. Bless you guys for all that you are doing to bring awareness to autism.
Thank you for not showing it. I couldn't have handled that it was bad enough hearing it. The whole world needs more education. One thing that bugs me is how autism is usually seen as a childhood condition. Autistic adults exist and we need support too. I wonder if schools teach about disabilities/conditions too as that would help to prevent a lot of bullying too.
I have a nephew with autism who is also biracial. He’s only 11 and he is verbal, but him having a bad encounter with police has been a worry for years.
Maybe you too, or his parents, can go to the local PD and voice your concerns and give them incentive to also add this into their training. Training for this should be added everywhere.
Thank you for your desire to educate and make positive changes. In my area we have a very high amount of deaf people, they have their own culture and may sometimes be perceived wrong. They can’t hear so would not respond. Imagine being hurt and unable to communicate that. Our emergency services and hospitals have been educated. Same for non communicating autism. The key is EDUCATION. The spectrum on autism is so large and each individual their own person that it’s sometimes difficult to identify. Maybe introduce your loved ones to the local services, that would help both groups. Mental health issues are a whole different situation and for the most part individuals with autism do not have a ‘mental health’ issue but I think the lack of community understanding between the two creates problems. Yes there are people (adults) with more mental health issues than autism and some are even posting on RUclips which leads to misinformation but thanks to your channel it’s a more informative outlet and you actually seek to educate. ❤️
I think one of the problems is that more and more I am seeing evidence that tasers are no longer considered, by the police, as a defense weapon, but as a compliance tool. They use more and more tases to make the person comply more quickly. (In reality if you are in so much pain, you can't even think to comply.)
i am in a small community with limited things for special needs ut it is my passion. i am feeling for this family. I will pray and share this video thanks for sharing
Hello Maass Family! I love you so so much! Great vlog as always!! Thanks for sharing love. expantace and awareness for Autism!! That is awful! It breaks my heart!!
I like these kinds of videos not the reason why you had to make the video but the way you are bringing it to everyone's attention to try and solve this 😊.
This is so hurtful and sad on every level! I’m with you on education, education, education…. This would solve not only this, but many issues in this world!
Well done on not being judgmental, and offering a solution!
This is so heart breaking!!! As the kid is walking away they are still tasering him!!! All police need training- intervention training without weapons!!! We had a situation in my community where a mother much smaller than the police was shot and killed in front of her children because she was holding a knife. Not a spoon- but still she was not a threat… something HAS to change!
What bothers me is that they kept saying ma’am we understand, but they continued to tase him and then tackle him and the choke hold isn’t even supposed to be used anymore but they do, after acknowledging that she “isn’t helping things” -heartbreaking
Jenny I think the officers saying "we understand" means that they understand that he has "autism" but it does not mean that they understand anything about autism. It's a very sad situation and my heart goes out to that poor boy and his family but... I also understand that police officers lives are constantly in danger and what we don't understand scares us. Not knowing how that boy might act/react and him not responding to their commands (which they probably don't understand and see as refusal to co-operate), they had to tase him to try and restrain him. Education is desperately needed for first responders.
😡 they had him in a choke hold? I'd be incredibly pist if that were my child. No reason for it. They took it way too far. Id be suing someone for damages.
@@patriciaharkin1571 by saying we understand; they acknowledged that they were dealing with someone who had a disability, yet they carried on as if they didn’t know. There’s absolutely no excuse at that point. Im tired of the “ we need more education” line- no they need just a mustard seed of empathy and a hairs breadth of common sense.
In my area, our local mental health offices do service those with autism. I understand your point that autism is a neurological disorder, completely. I’m from a smaller community where ABA therapist don’t exist, thus mental health is utilized. Mostly it’s about training the parents or caregivers to understand autism instead of treating the patient at first, but also help with the patient’s coping skills and understanding of the world around them. Thank you for sharing this and your lives to help educate.
Can’t watch the video. It’s heartbreaking 💔. Thank you for bringing to attention. Thank you so much for helping. I am not against police officers either as they are just human and we live in a very scary world but they should clearly know the difference between someone who is dangerous and someone with autism. One of the officers admitted the poor lad had autism. Come on really. So terrible. Imagine it’s like tasing a 2 year old child.
I would love for you to make this a national campaign that reaches every PD in the country.💗
Yes!!!
thank you for the awareness this can happen in a blink of an eye being a disability worker. We need so much education for people with a disability. Cant wait to see what you come up with.
I watched the video in it’s entirety and I found myself getting sick to my stomach each and every time I heard the tasers going off. My heart broke after the young man got tased and held onto the taser lines, holding up the lines towards the officer as if to ask them to help him to take them off. I believe that all police departments need to have training on how to approach and deal with any individual with special needs, ESPECIALLY NONVERBAL AUTISM. I saw the footage and hearing the mother scream that he is Autistic and nonverbal and the officers STILL continue to taser him with 2 taser guns while also having him on the ground hearing the young man cry made me so angry and sad. I haven’t watched your video on this in it’s entirety yet, I saw the video title and had to come into the comments and voice how I felt while watching the footage of what happened to this young man. What really killed me along with him trying to ask for the lines to be taken off was when the officers were yelling “what is your name” and the young man made noises as most nonverbal individuals do. That should have been a sign that he can’t speak and explain what he is doing or what his name is. He had a freaking soup ladle in his hand, not a weapon. You can see him stimming with the ladle as well as with his right hand which was empty. I am still so upset and it has been hours since I watched the footage. I truly wish that the police officers in this situation knew how to better help him, I hope that going forward ALL departments across the country find a way to train their emergency responders the best ways to deal with and approach individuals with special needs. I personally do not feel being tasered with 2 taser guns was needed, the continuation of being tasered for that long was overkill and shouldn’t have happened to begin with. My thoughts go out to the young man. I wish I could hug him and tell him how sorry I feel that this happened. Thank you so much Asa and Pricilla for not only making your video on this but for bringing so much awareness to others on the real life issues that come up with having a loved one with nonverbal autism and special needs. Much love to you both!
I live in Minnesota and where they passed a bill. Last year that all Public Safety Officers weather it is a police officer, firefighters, EMTs, and medical professionals all have to go through a 4 hour Autism training yearly
I am an education assistant i think in the US you call us PARAs
First of all this breaks my heart into a million pieces, but thank you for tackling this subject the way you did.
But the part where on officer said, “Look at you boy” after discussing the one cop having no other option but to tackling him, was inappropriate. Even if that was his last resort, no one should compliment that!
I worked in a mental health emergency intake center for 5 years. It is a requirement to have your own mental health issues to work there. I still get calls because no one else knows the bare minimum about how to support an individual on the spectrum. Clinicians would sometimes suspect autism etc but I was the only person on any shift with a background in it. Thankfully the school district I work in has police liaison officers in the schools and we are making it a big point for those officers and our students to meet and build up some rapport. Hopefully the officers see a variety of representations of individuals on the spectrum and can start to at least think about that possibility - and our students can get comfortable with police officers. Thank you for sharing this.
As the father of a 17yo and 6 foot tall soon to be young man with nonverbal autism, intellectual disability and comorbid mental health issues this hits too close to home for me to watch that video and be able to sleep tonight. It’s literally the stuff of my nightmares. We have had recent interactions with first responders and ER staff though. So far he hasn’t had to be forcefully subdued like that - thank God. When elopements happen 911 is called ASAP and we invoke Project Lifesaver protocols with hope that things like that don’t happen.
ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOU BOTH, AND THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING ON THIS SPECIFIC TOPIC. ( AND, POOR "DEPUTY DAN", HAPPY HE WENT FOR MEDICAL ATTENTION FOR HIS POOR LITTLE KNEE AND POOR LITTLE ROAD RASH, WHEN HE WAS TRYING HIS 10TH GRADE FAVORITE WRESTLING MOVE! ABSOULETY PATHETIC, DISGUSTING, AND IGNORANT,.. ON "OFFICER HAMPBELL" AND THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENTS BEHALF). PRAYERS TO THE YOUNG MAN AND HIS FAMILY. AND PRAYING FOR PROPER TRAINING TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN ALL DEPARTMENTS. SO HEART BREAKING. MUCH LOVE TO YOU AND THE FAMILY 💞