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Autistic Disorder
Does your Department have a member that is Autistic, how is the best way to get a member who is Autistic to be legal to respond to fire calls??? Elmore Fire & Rescue had a member join who is Autistic & he's not allowed to respond for liability reasons, I understand SAFETY FIRST!!! Who should the officer's talk to so we can make it ""LEGAL"" for this member to respond??
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Adam Glasson on
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I don't know this guy and I wasn't there. But my son says he is going to kill us at least once a month. It is his way of dealing with situations with others that he is not comfortable in and there is no thought of following through it's just his way of dealing. Also when he has violent episodes we can now see this coming and try to difuse the situation before it really flares up. Sometimes the best thing is to just walk away from him.
Personally if some knocked me out and I woke to find my hands and feet tied, I would be pretty pissed wether I had Autism or not!!! and I can't see how that would have helped the situation.
I'm not saying that what he did was justified or right, you and I know it is wrong, but people with Autism think differently to us. Again I will say I wasn't there and don't know the guy, but from what you have written I believe it could have been handled differently.
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Permalink Reply by Nicole on
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Hey, everyone here saying autistic people can't be firefighters or thinks they're mental retards needs to seriously shut the hell up. Our Asst. Crew Boss on my wildland crew is autistic and he knows everything there is to know about fire. He knows everything there is to know about weather, fire behavior, human factors, and he's a volunter structure firefighter so he's super-EMT. His autism lets him just be a walking textbook of everything and anything fire and though he doesn't hardly talk and he delegates most of the whole barking orders business to the squad-bosses, I wouldn't feel safe with anyone else leading the crew. True, he hasn't said a word to me all season, and when he does try to socialize with people he comes off as straight up inapropriate and awkward, but when it comes to fire, he's one hell of a firefighter, and he deserves to be a firefighter more than anyone else I know in fire. If people like him need understanding and accomodation, like not being crap for being a bit off socially, then we should suck it up and give it to them just because we need more guys like him in fire. In conclusion, don't judge what you don't understand, and don't talk smack about what you don't know.
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Permalink Reply by 55 TRUCK on
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I find the knowledge of Autism supprisingly low even by people who have relatives who are Autisitc.
There are many levels of Autism with varying degrees of function. There are Doctors,College Proffesors etc. Who have Autism.
As for your particular Autistic person. I think the situation could of been handled diffrently. I would ask why wasn't a family member brought in to speak with him about his Fire dept. membership. A relative would know how to talk with him and explain things so he wouldn't go off. How old is this person?
Why wasn't he told by the Chief when he walked in the door that he couldn't fight fire?
By letting him be a partial member with any inclination by the Dept implied or other wise that he would be allowed to fight fire and or respond to emergencies. The dept has set itself up for a lawsuit.
He should of been told by the Chief, Ass.Chief, Capt. etc. From the beginning that he would not be allowed to respond to calls.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Hatfield on
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It would not be a good idea ....
I put my life in the hands of my Brothers and Sisters, and they do the same. The safety of not only this "member" and consequences of what could happen are too high, there is just no place for someone with this form of disorder.
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Permalink Reply by David Luft on
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I am confused. One minute you portray yourself as a advocate, the next your are knocking the snot out
of the guy. I'm not sure what your intentions are. Why did you initiate this exchange in the first place? For
whatever reason, the powers that be, approved his membership. If you had issues, why didn't you address
them throught the Chain of Command? Let the guys with the white helmets sort it out.
The guy swung at me and I HAD to defend myself. I think there are very few situations in life where you HAVE
to defend yourself. You could have walked away. You punched out a guy with Autism. Someone who by the nature
of the disease may not have been able to debate with you on the same intellectual level, inhibit impulsive behavior,
or conform his behavior to socially acceptable standards. Kind of like hitting a girl, there are some things you just don't do.
Have I ever put the smack down on a patient with dementia that took a swing at me, a drunk who threatened me with
harm, or an EDP who tried to bite me? NEVER. Why, because I had a choice, and the patient was impaired by disease, mental defect, or substance. They were not capable of making a rational decision. Goes back to the
hitting a girl analogy. Some things you just don't do, even if you can, or would be justified doing so.
You need to learn about Autism. Do you know what a trigger is? You probably hit the two biggest triggers for
an Autistic person. Tactile overstimulation and restraint. No wonder he was pissed. Statistics cite that between
1 in 60 or 1 in 100 children are born today with some for of Autisim. We will all encounter one and need to
be educated on interacting with them.
How do you knock a guy out cold, and then leave him on the floor while you run around looking for Flex-Cuffs?
Did you ever think, jeez this guy's not waking up? Should I be doing something more than hog tying the guy.
How about 911.
Lastly, what kind of field day will the local media and civil attorneys have with this? Can you see the headline,
"Firefighter Beats Autistic Man". Great for the profession, great for your agency. Bet you Chief will be real happy
if he reads this. If you worked for me, I would have sent both of you packing. Zero Tolerance. Shame on you.
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Permalink Reply by Lee Jones on
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Our Department recently had a Paramedic come in who is a advocate for autism and who has a son who was born with this teach a class on EMS dealing with autism. It was a real eye opener on what the disease is and it's degrees. How to treat these people properly. I really suggest contacting a autism awareness group and have them come out and do a training with your members. It will be a huge eye opener. I feel safe saying that if you would have been properly trained and understood how the disease works and how to deal with them properly this situation would not have happened.
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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Exactly Nicole!
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