Beware the Use of Force

A special education teacher in Racine, Wisconsin, is put on leave last week in the wake of allegations that she slapped a 12-year-old autistic student, the June 16th Journal-Times reports.

The city of Peoria and three polics officers are being sued by the father of a 29-year-old autistic man. According to the June 16th Journal-Star, Davy Washington was tased twelve times after police arrested him at a group home.

12-year-old Christopher is described as being "mostly non-verbal"; it's also noted that he "can be aggressive and needs a one-on-one assistant." Davy Washington has "severe autism, mental retardation, communication disorder and an anxiety disorder." In both cases, it sounds like those in authority---educators, the police---responded with force, and excessively.

A few days ago in Not a Large Child I noted that, too often,

People try to physically guide Charlie to do something. If he's not responding quickly enough to do something, someone might take his hand and try to move it----in other words, they touch him, without asking permission, as if he "just doesn't mind." Unless it's someone that you or I know well, we don't expect or want another person to touch us without indicating this first, and neither does Charlie.

Slapping and tasing are, obviously, a lot more extreme than (for instance) doing a hand-over-hand prompt to guide a child who is responding slowly to do something. Often I think, though, that---especially for individuals like my son who are non- or minimally verbal and slow to process language and verbal requests---physical force can be too quickly, and regularly, resorted to. We need always to consider that just because an individual is quiet does not mean he or she does not understand (to reference one of Dora's previous posts).

And, many individuals on the autism spectrum having sensory sensitivities, being touched by a stranger is a potentially sensory-system-havoc-wreaking act, not to mention an intrusive one liable to further aggravate an individual (and to escalate the situation). Just being aware of this might suggest (to the police; to educators, too) how we can better support an individual on the spectrum in a moment of (potentially severe) stress and anxiety.

Just imagine how you'd feel if someone were constantly touching and gripping the back of your hand or arm or tugging on you to do something, and all without ever asking.