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• Posted December 17, 2024

For Black Youth With Autism, Encounters With Police Bring Special Dangers

Parents of Black teens with autism worry that their kids’ condition might put them at greater risk during interactions with police.

A new study published Dec. 16 in the journal Autism shows that behaviors common among children with autism, such as reduced eye contact, might cause police to think they’re acting guilty.

Unfortunately, police officers aren’t trained to understand that this is average behavior for kids with autism, families told researchers.

“It’s important for everyone to understand that the parents in this study said they were hopeful, which we interpreted as Black caregivers’ faith that interactions between officers and Black autistic youth could be better,” said lead researcher Ashlee Yates Flanagan, a clinical psychologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Center (CHOP) for Autism Research.

“This demonstrates that there’s space for improvement in training, and we can take what we know from this study and explore it further,” Flanagan added in a CHOP news release.

For the study, researchers analyzed the perspectives of 43 Black caregivers of Black children with autism, regarding police interactions with their kids.

Autistic people are known to be at higher risk during interactions with police, including a greater risk of injury and death, researchers said in background notes.

Four specific themes emerged during interviews:

• The quality of police officer training 

• Normal autistic behaviors being inappropriately policed

• The explicit threat of harm and murder

• The hope for more mindful policing

Families worry that police officers might overreact to movements and responses that are typical of autistic kids but different from their peers, results showed.

Many families expressed hope that training could help police recognize these differences in behavior, hopefully instilling patience and understanding that could improve interactions between kids and officers.

“In this study, we captured rich narratives from stakeholders who have not been represented well in prior research, but whose thoughts and perspectives are critical for understanding how to improve outcomes for Black autistic youth and police,” said senior researcher Julia Parish-Morris, a scientist in the CHOP Center for Autism Research.

“Our findings suggest that there is a lot of room for growth in training for police officers, and that Black parents of Black autistic youth carry hope that outcomes can be improved,” Parish-Morris added.

More information

Autism Speaks has more about police interactions with autistic people.

SOURCE: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), news release, Dec. 16, 2024