Autistic Folk Don’t Need IDs… OR. Armed. Cops.
I read this morning that Michigan will begin offering…
“Voluntary” notices on autistic citizens, and others with communication difficuties, to be kept in police databases…
That will help protect them from a police officer….
Accidentally shooting them. DEAD.
TRIGGER WARNING
I am about to go off…
“Starting in July 2021, the new laws will allow those on the autism spectrum or who have other communications barriers to voluntarily have a notice associated with their driver’s license, registration or state ID cards to alert police of a possible difficulty in communicating.
“Such communication barriers can be a factor in deadly incidents, such as the case of 32-year-old Eyad Hallaq, a Palestinian with severe autism who was shot and killed by police in Jerusalem five days after George Flyod’s death in Minneapolis.”
I need to express a personal opinion here, understanding that many, many may not agree with it.
I. Do. Not. CARE…
That Michigan undoubtedly means well…
And I DO want to protect disabled folk… especially my fellow autistics… Please excuse my ID group narcissism…
BUT…
I strongly believe that the solution to NOT KILLING autistic people because an armed officer is IGNORANT of who and what he/she/ey is dealing with IS…
Well…,
I believe the solution is a basket of things:
- Support #AutismAcceptance throughout every social structure available to us.
- Ultimately, the problem is ignorance and #WeirdPhobia. We gotta stomp those out.
- Or at least approach Herd Immunity…
- Use trained social workers for ALL incident calls that do NOT involve threat to life.
- There is no.. none whatsoever… NO reason for a person performing a welfare check, or other purely social service, to be packing any form of lethal weapon.
- I know. I’ve been a Child Protective Services worker. A VERY dangerous, unarmed position.
- Trust me. If you are trained properly and SUSPECT you are in danger, you do not enter any closed structure. You do NOT approach any vehicle, individual, or group that appears out of the ordinary.
- You call for backup.
- It. Is. That. Freaking. Easy.
- Honestly, there are fatalities among CPS workers. But nothing approaching 1000+ cop-shooting deaths of American civilians.
- Every. Single. Year.
- Reduce the ARMED police force to exactly, precisely the level required to handle ONLY violent threats to life…
- Plus ONLY sufficient BACKUP force to handle a reasonable-sized crowd…
- Determined by the population of the city, town, village, county, or state.
- Not ONE cop more.
- Not ONE freaking THERE IS NO NEED FOR A STANDING ARMY IN ANY AMERICA I WANT TO LIVE IN…
- Or believe I can survive in.
- #AllDisabilitiesMatter. All my points apply across the entire human population…
- By which I do not mean to imply some disabilities are more at risk than others or not… particularly communication-related ones such as autism…
- But more that, if common decency, as in commonly expressed toward every living human (and sentient being, for that matter)…
- And, yes, even a little tender kindness…
- Do NOT return to America damn fast…
We’re ALL screwed.
I take this issue extremely personally.
As a 67-year-old #ActuallyAutistic male, I experience…
- Selective Mutism
- Panic Attacks
- Loud Voice
- Unusual Gait
- Unusual Wardrobe
And, for bonus points… - I avoid eye contact.
I fear every police officer and cop car I see.
And it’s 21st Century America.
Originally published at http://autisticaf.me on June 24, 2020.
