For Black autistic youth, police interactions can be dangerous
By Louise Kinross
Black youth are two-and-a-half times more likely than white peers to be on the receiving end of force in a police encounter, according to the American Bureau of Justice Statistics. And some research shows that Black youth are more likely to die a police-related death.
Given these realities, it's no surprise that parents of Black autistic teens—who may not respond to police in expected ways—have heightened fears that police will harm them.
In a qualitative study of 43 Black American caregivers of Black autistic youth published last month in Autism, 77 per cent had significant concerns about the safety of their child around police.
Caregivers, who were mostly mothers, had fears about the quality of police officer training in understanding autistic behaviours and communication styles; that typical autistic behaviours like reduced eye contact would be misinterpreted and criminalized; and that their child would be harmed or murdered.
When it came to police training, one parent who filled out the online study survey said police were not taught to "handle and understand differences associated with autism."
The mother of a 17-year-old boy said: "Sometimes my son appears disrespectful, but he is not. For example, he rarely makes eye contact. He doesn't always have good social skills. This could be easily misinterpreted."
The mother of a 13-year-old boy said: "I'm concerned that the standard procedure and protocol of yelling, aggression and repeating commands is counterproductive to maintaining safety when dealing with an individual diagnosed on the spectrum."
The scientists note that autistic behaviours become "an additive risk factor to their Blackness in the context of police interactions."
The mother of a 15-year-old boy shared her concern that his behaviour may be misinterpreted as suspicious or criminal: "He would find it difficult responding to questions especially under pressure, not to mention trick questions. If you walk toward him, he will walk away, he never really looks one in the eye—all which would be considered suspect."
The mother of a 17-year-old boy said: "My child is hard to read and does things like playing hide-and-seek with the cops when dealing with them. The problem is the cops do not know that he is playing a game and cannot read his behaviour like other typical children."
Parents shared explicit fears that their child would be physically harmed or killed because police were afraid of them. "Yes, I'm afraid every day that they might not understand my son's behaviour issues and just assume that he is trying to hurt them," said the mother of a 14-year-old boy. "And possibly kill my son."
The mother of a 15-year-old boy said: "My concern is my son is tall and a big young man of colour, he has a tendency to pace and not stand still which brings concerns that would be considered suspect behaviour... I am concerned an officer will unnecessarily approach him and it will escalate, and he will end up dead or in jail."
The mother of a 16-year-old boy said: "They will see someone acting strangely, a behaviour they do not understand. I am afraid they will kill my son."
While most parents shared concerns about interactions with the police, a small number shared hopes that police would be patient and understanding.
The Autism study was led by Black researcher Ashlee Yates Flanagan, a clinical psychologist at the Center for Autism Research at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Center (CHOP). It's the largest to date to explore the relationship between Black autistic youth and police officers from the perspective of parents.
The authors note that most research on interactions between autistic people and the police have focused on white participants. In a 2019 study, 72 per cent of police officers in the United States said they'd had no formal training on working with autistic people.
The researchers recommend culturally specific support and interventions to help parents of Black autistic children manage their high stress about possible police encounters. They suggest programs that teach police interactions to autistic teens, and provide an opportunity to practise them.
But their primary focus is systemic change. "We urge the policing system to explore and ameliorate practices that lead to a disproportionate number of negative outcomes for Black families, families with neurodivergent children, and families at the intersection of those identities," they write.
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