Are Law Enforcement Officers Trained to Respond to Citizens with ASD?

I am curious about what resources are provided to those people who work in our community to respond to emergencies. Do they know the best ways to help our "special" citizens, or might they accidentally make things worse because of lack of training or knowledge?

I am trying to find out the answers to these questions. I always find the internet to be one good source of information and an easy place to begin finding answers.

Here is one article about some local programs:
Copy and paste this URL to read about some Maryland and Virginia counties in the D.C. area:
http://technorati.com/lifestyle/family/article/law-enforcement-training-for-autism-related1/

Here is a link to information about training for first responders:
Copy and paste this URL to read about this training program :
http://www.leanonus.org/trainings.html

This link is about a conference in North Carolina that was held for state law enforcement after a man with autism died while in police custody.
Copy and paste this link to read about it.
http://asa.confex.com/asa/2006/techprogram/S2232.HTM

This newsweek article relates several specific instances of misunderstandings that have happened when law enforcement came into contact with autistic individuals and explains how organizations and concerned citizens are trying to provide better information to officers through training.
Copy and paste this link to read more about it:
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/08/is-sitting-while-autistic-a-crime.html

This link is to the Autism Society and is about pamphlets that they offer to assist first reponders and law enforcement.
Copy and paste this URL to see this information:
http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=research_safeandsound_firstresponders

So, from my internet search, I am still not clear on what, if any, training has been provided to Maryland state officers, Montgomery county officers, or the city forces of Germantown or Gaithersburg where we would be mostly like to encounter the police. Looks like more research is needed. At least I now know that some of our country's jurisdictions are addressing this issue.

If you know more about this topic, please add your comments.

Postscript: I learned from Craig Schultz of the Autism Socieity of America, that trainings to Montgomery County, MD and Rockville, Md police have been provided by the ASA. Also, Maryland State police have had training in general mental health issues, but not specifically ASD's or developmental disabilities, but that training could be considered in the future.

Promising new drug test for symptoms of ASD

Copy and past this URL to read the full article about this new drug test:
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/26284/?p1=A2&a=f#afteradbody

This is one that I would ask my daughter's doctor to look into. Here is just an the beginning of the article:

A Drug Shows Promise in Autism
A chemical that alters chemical signaling seems to ease anxiety and other symptoms.
By Karen Weintraub
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2010


Though the research is still preliminary, scientists appear to be closing in on a molecular explanation for at least some cases of autism. Research in lab animals, cadavers, and now in a small clinical trial in children seems to support the idea that autism is caused by a lack of chemical regulation in synapses, the junction between brain cells.


Alleviating autism: A drug called arbaclofen (its chemical structure is shown above) appears to ease anxiety and some other symptoms in a small study of children with autism.
Credit: Seaside Therapeutics
The latest evidence for this comes from a clinical trial of 25 autistic children ages six to 17. The trial was conducted by Seaside Therapeutics of Cambridge, Massachusetts. In unpublished data released last week, the company says the children seemed to respond well to the drug arbaclofen and suffer minimal side effects. Arbaclofen is related to the drug baclofen, a commonly used muscle relaxer and antispastic agent. The children took the drug for eight weeks, and most saw significant improvements in measures of irritability and communication, two common problems in autism.

The finding is considered preliminary because the study was not placebo-controlled, meaning scientists couldn't compare children taking the drug to those taking a placebo. This is especially important in studies of autism because many of the tests used to assess patients are subjective, including behavioral evaluations from parents and clinicians, says Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, assistant professor of psychiatry, pediatrics, and pharmacology at Vanderbilt University. About a half-dozen of his patients were involved in the trial.

IAN Topic on Bullying of ASD children

As I have mentioned in a previous posting, IAN, is a helpful website and here is an article relating to IAN on the topic of Bullying at school for ASD kids.

Find the article by copying and pasting this URL;
http://www.crestonnewsadvertiser.com/articles/ara/2010/09/16/8049210103/index.xml

More information on this topic can be found on the IAN website