Autism mistaken for drunkness

Page 1 of 2 [ 25 posts ] Go to page 1, 2 Next

Joined: 23 Oct 2007
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,485
Location: Newfoundland, Canada

22 Apr 2009, 3:05 pm

A autistic 18-year old boy in my town was mistaken for being drunk and placed in lock-up overnight, he wasn't given the option to call his mother or anything.

cbc.ca

Quote:

The mother of an autistic teenager from Mount Pearl has filed a formal complaint against the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, accusing the police of wrongfully jailing her son this weekend after mistaking symptoms of his autism for drunkenness.

Diane Spurrell discovered her son Dane, 18, had been put in the local lock-up Saturday night after she called 9-1-1 at 5 a.m. to report him missing.

Dane Spurrell said he was returning home from the video store in Mount Pearl when police approached him on a stretch of Topsail Rd. and told him to get onto the sidewalk.

Spurrell said he explained there was no sidewalk in that area, and soon after, the police asked to smell his breath.

"Because of the way that I am, they just assumed … I was drunk — [because of] the way that I was walking and speaking," he said.

Spurrell admits he resisted the police because he felt he hadn't done anything wrong.

"They were like, 'Get in the car.' They were grabbing me and tossing me around and shaking me, and eventually, they got me down on the ground," he said.

Diane Spurrell said when she heard the details of the incident, she knew they had mistaken his autistic behavior for drunkenness.

"From what he told me, they just didn't listen to him at all," she said. "They didn't give him an opportunity to explain himself. They denied him the opportunity to phone me."

Diane Spurrell said she has been told that the RNC's deputy chief will visit her at home on Thursday.

An RNC spokesperson said the police are investigating the incident.

As for Dane, he said he is not traumatized by the misunderstanding or by his unexpected night in jail.

_________________
Humans are intelligent, but that doesn't make them smart.

Tomasu
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 19 Jun 2008
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,193
Location: West Yorkshire, England

22 Apr 2009, 3:11 pm

^^ Oh dear. A happy boy who attended my high school often asked me if I used the drugs amphetamine or LSD, which I do not so. I believe he was perhaps joking however.

sgrannel
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 20 Feb 2008
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,919

22 Apr 2009, 3:36 pm

I've had people comment or ask if I was high when I was a teenager. I answered the phone at my dad and stepmom's house and the person at the other end of the line asked me if I was tripping. I was uncomfortable with answering someone else's phone, and didn't know what to say, or how to respond to the tripping remark. So I just went along with it, didn't say "no" because I wanted to seem "cool", even though I wasn't on anything.

At work someone asked me if I do drugs, and I responded that I'm just "like that" all the time. What can I say?

I was in a suit store getting ready for an invitation to a party and the assistant commented that I must be on drugs, because I didn't know how to cooperate with what the fitter was doing, and suits were outside my comfort zone at the time. That was just about a decade ago, and I remember doing a lot of other socially awkward things that seemed to indicate weak theory of mind, now that I think about it. I like to think I've gotten a little better since then.

Well, OK, maybe I should have done drugs, because then at least I would have gotten to enjoy something other people think I'm doing anyway!

http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion ... =b-section

_________________
A boy and his dog can go walking
A boy and his dog sometimes talk to each other
A boy and a dog can be happy sitting down in the woods on a log
But a dog knows his boy can go wrong

Last edited by sgrannel on 22 Apr 2009, 4:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

KingdomOfRats
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Age: 40
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,833
Location: f'ton,manchester UK

22 Apr 2009, 4:14 pm

Am think those RNC police need autism and disability awareness training,it is good a formal complaint has been made,it's the only way they will start to take notice-everyone who gets such unfair treatment off the police for being autistic and innocent should do the same,get a medical bracelet as well,these are priceless.

have had similar..ish treatment off police-until got a cloth type medical bracelet,GMP police are disability aware but could be better,eg,they dont recognise someone who is only speaking echolalia and dont understand signing.

being a regular absconder from a residential home for valid reasons [am classed as an extremely vulnerable adult so disappearances are treated as emergency],am have been found rocking on the ground lining up stones [wearing a hoody],they thought was also drunk and a runaway from the childrens home,even putting in a call to see if anyone had ran away from the local one,the little speech am luckily had [its all echolalia] and makaton signing was useless on them,till the call had come in from the home and made it obvious what was wrong,they treated am with respect non stop,regardless of when they thought am as the 'drunk child' or the 'autistic adult'.
Wish all police forces were more balanced on respect and understanding as them,having heard of the treatment some have gone through [especially in US],the deaths of some after being hog tied etc.

_________________
>severely autistic.
>>the residential autist; http://theresidentialautist.blogspot.co.uk
blogging from the view of an ex institutionalised autism/ID activist now in community care.
>>>help to keep bullying off our community,report it!

Sea_of_Saiyan
Deinonychus

Joined: 3 Nov 2008
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 337
Location: USA

22 Apr 2009, 5:42 pm

People ask me all the time if I am drunk and they tell me that I look like I'm high on marijuana.

Neither is true - in fact I've never even tried either.

sillyputty
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 27 Nov 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,757
Location: Colorado

22 Apr 2009, 6:23 pm

Wow, don't they have to do some kind of breath or blood test up there to prove intoxication? And why didn't he get a phone call?

That is a disturbing scenario.

_________________
Sleep is like the unicorn - it is rumored to exist, but I doubt I will see any.

marshmellow
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Age: 49
Gender: Female
Posts: 5

22 Apr 2009, 7:06 pm

This is one of my bigger anxiety-makers when I'm out in public. I become terrified that the people around me will think that I'm on drugs. It's especially bad if I am around police officers. I get very worried that I would be arrested for being on drugs, at which point I would completely Freak out. I'm very careful not to speed while driving...

Ravenclawgurl
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 19 Jun 2007
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,274
Location: somewhere over the rainbow

23 Apr 2009, 12:25 pm

This is why I always wear my autism awareness bracelet. It doesnt say that i have aspergers or anything but i hope that incase in the future if im ever on my own and for some reason if something happens i hope that the bracelet wth the word autism on may ring some bells in someones head that maybe here might be a reason im acting the way i am

Khan_Sama
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 25 Mar 2008
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 882
Location: New Human Empire

23 Apr 2009, 2:30 pm

My maths teacher in school accused me of being a drug addict in front of the whole class.

jamesp420
Velociraptor

Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Posts: 487
Location: Louisville, KY

23 Apr 2009, 11:06 pm

I've had people accuse me of being on drugs because of the way I act. I always tell then that's just the way I am. some believe me, some don't. I could care less, honestly.

_________________
Confucius say - Man who stand on toilet high on pot.

http://www.facebook.com/jamesp420

luchog
Raven
Raven

Joined: 6 Apr 2009
Age: 53
Gender: Male
Posts: 107
Location: The Emerald City, USA

24 Apr 2009, 1:04 am

Tomasu wrote:

^^ Oh dear. A happy boy who attended my high school often asked me if I used the drugs amphetamine or LSD, which I do not so. I believe he was perhaps joking however.

I've had people I worked with refuse to believe that I wasn't on something at the time.

ShadesOfMe
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 30 Jun 2004
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 16,983
Location: California

24 Apr 2009, 2:06 am

Police overdo it nowadays. They don't give anyone time to react, and if they react in a way that they don't like, you are screwed. They didn't even give him a breathalizer test or anything! Ebil!

Confused-Fish
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 12 Jan 2008
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 946
Location: trapped in a jar

24 Apr 2009, 10:46 am

I get that sometimes. but when i am drunk no one notices :S

alcohol seems to effect me differently then how it effects NT's *shrugs* I actually find it easier and more natural to talk to people and socialise when drunk. I think the effect it has on me may have something to do with adrenaline?

Mikhaillost
Toucan
Toucan