People With Learning Disabilities and the ‘System.’

jaikishan patel

There's got to be a better way

 

According to federal data analyzed by the Center for Public Integrity, students with disabilities, Black children and on some campuses, Native American and Latino children, have been disproportionately impacted by policing in schools. Leading San Diego County in law enforcement referrals were schools that serve students with behavioral or other special needs — including those who have already encountered the juvenile court system.

 

Nationwide, nearly 230,000 students were reported to law enforcement during the 2017-18 school year, the most recent data available. Black children and students with disabilities were referred at nearly twice their share of the overall student population.   (Center for Public Integrity and USA TODAY and CBS8

 

The subject of the CBS8 report was 13-year-old Joshua Savala. Savala, who went to school in San Diego, is on the autism spectrum. He was often bullied at school.   

 

“A quiet kid with autism, he struggled to be accepted by some of his peers at Lakeside Middle School — so much so that his mother says they reported 16 bullying incidents in one year.” 

 

“The last time, a student pushed Joshua from behind, causing him to fall and hit his head on concrete. He traveled to a children’s hospital in an ambulance that his mother called after he later complained of neck pain.”

 

“Other kids told school officials that Joshua made a verbal threat to “shoot up” the campus after the assault. Joshua denies the claim. Lakeside Middle reported him to police, anyway.”

 

He ended up in the system.

 

“According to the statistics the San Diego Unified School District, Black students comprised about 8% of enrollment but made up nearly 19% of referrals. Students with disabilities made up more than 30% of referrals but only 14% of the population.  

 

The bulk of the district’s alternative schools reported rates more than 20 times the national average.”  (CBS8)

A Better Future?

 

The police should not be expected to take on the full load of responsibility for these situations. The schools bear responsibility for keeping everybody safe. That does not mean the police are exempt. Here’s what one police force in Great Britain is doing.

South Yorkshire Police is committed to becoming more accessible to those with autism as part of our journey to being a recognized ‘Autism Friendly’ organization.

There are many people affected by autism across South Yorkshire.

Protecting those who are vulnerable is a force priority, and we want to ensure we can adequately meet the needs of those people who may benefit from additional support in their interactions with us.

So far as a force we have:

• Introduced Autism Alert Cards, enabling police and other emergency services to communicate with autistic residents more effectively and helping those on the autism spectrum feel more comfortable in what could potentially be an extremely stressful situation.
• Provide ‘passports’, a document you can show to people that explains your communication styles and presentations, for situations such as travel hubs or shopping malls where it may not be the police you need.
• Introduced fidget cubes and widgets - easy to read materials to explain what will happen - in custody suites, to help reduce anxiety.
• Installed autism single points of contact or ‘SPOCS’ in all districts who are able to provide specialist knowledge and support to people across the force.
• A regular presence on Local Authority Autism Boards.
• Provided Autism Awareness training across the force to front line staff and staff in custody, enquiry desk and call handler roles.
• Continue to work with NAS and Autism & Learning Disability NHS Teams on projects to improve outcomes for those that have contact with the Criminal Justice System.

Autism Alert Cards are available to anyone of any age, if they are able to provide us with a copy of their formal diagnosis from their GP, information that they are awaiting a diagnosis or similar and a passport sized photo. The cards are free.

I did not address what happens when the learning-disabled age out of the system and become adults.  In a survey of 18,185 inmates in state and federal correctional facilities, researchers found that the prevalence of disability was significantly higher than the non-institutionalized population, finding that 41% of inmates reported having a disability. Learning disabilities were the most commonly reported disability.

Information on the Prevalence of Learning Disabilities in the ...

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