Responding to autism

Teaching Queensland Police how to respond to autistic people

Autism (ASD) is on the rise and every day Queensland Police Officers are called into situations that they are simply not trained for. This can be confronting, dangerous and leave consequences that can last a lifetime.

Kathrine Peereboom, Queensland mum of three severely autistic non-verbal boys, is continuing her passion to ensure that no person on the spectrum is ever put in a position where their dignity or safety is compromised by a first responder or service provider due to lack of awareness or ignorance.

“My boys.... no, everybody deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.”

Kathrine is providing autism training to Queensland Police Service officers right across the state for FREE. Peereboom is no stranger to training police. Founder and CEO of Spectrum Support, a leading provider of autism training, advocacy and awareness-raising, she personally developed an autism training program which she delivered to hundreds of NSW Police in 2019, earning her The Commissioner’s Safety Initiative Award the same year. Too many autistic people have faced upsetting and dangerous situations where their safety and human rights have been violated due to a lack of understanding by those confronting them. Unless you understand autism and the way it impacts people, their behaviour, actions and ability to communicate, understand and respond, you can accidentally perceive their actions as non-compliance or that they are being difficult when in fact they simply don’t have the capacity to engage. Or they simply engage in a different way. Kathrine began working with the Queensland Police Service in late 2020 after being invited by Senior Sergeant Gregory Giles who, for over seven years, has been instrumental in training police in mental health interventions and strategies. Kathrine developed a two-hour course called ‘Autism and Law Enforcement’ which has already been delivered in Brisbane, Mackay, Townsville, Rockhampton, Cairns and other locations to specialised groups of between 30 and 100 officers at a time. These officers include all ranks; detectives, constables and senior sergeants.

“As a mother of three autistic boys, I want my sons to grow up in a world where they are safe, understood and supported. The training I undertake for Queensland Police is provided on a voluntary basis as it’s important to me that I can make a positive contribution to society.”

Sergeant Giles developed The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Project after identifying the need that front-line police officers required better skills and knowledge to deal with the ever-increasing issue of mental illness within their communities.

This training is the first of its kind to be delivered in Queensland and provides participants with the skill, knowledge and attitude to improve officers’ performance and provide a better service to the community in Queensland. Bringing together experts across multiple disciplines provides officers exposure to a range of contact scenarios, engagement strategies and promotes a more inclusive community.

“Every day police officers encounter a multitude of people in emergency situations. Just as each emergency situation differs from the next, so does the individual involved, especially when it comes to people on the spectrum.”

So what does the course cover? Police are expertly trained to respond to crisis situations with certain protocols, but these may not always suit interactions with autistic people. Given police are often first responders in an emergency, it is critical for police officers to have a good understanding and working knowledge of autism, and the broad range of behaviours that people on the spectrum can exhibit in emergency situations. The courses equip police officers with the skill and knowledge to deal with these situations. An autistic person may have an impaired sense of danger, be scared of police, avoid eye contact, have delayed speech or language skills, or not understand or be able to respond to verbal commands.

They may engage in repetitive behaviour such as rocking, stimming, or hand flapping, react with fight or flight actions or experience epilepsy or seizures. They can often also reach out for shiny objects such as badges, handcuffs or weapons. It is essential that police officers understand these behaviours and how to work with them. The training which has been developed extensively with the autism community is designed to support officers to better protect and serve and increase community confidence. Kathrine Peereboom is the Founder and CEO of Spectrum Support, a national organisation committed to improving through training and education - awareness and support for, and the quality of public and private services provided to, autistic Australians and those living with other special needs. www.spectrumsupport.org