Miami-Dade County Commissioner Raquel Regalado sat down with NBC6 Impact’s Jackie Nespral to discuss Autism Awareness Month.

The post Miami-Dade commissioner, autism advocate talks about Autism Awareness Month appeared first on Raquel Regalado.

A parent of two neurodivergent young adults, Commissioner Regalado sponsored a resolution creating the program to improve how emergency situations involving persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are handled.

“I’ve been on a mission to make Miami-Dade a safer, more inclusive place for our residents of all abilities,” Commissioner Regalado said. “I couldn’t be prouder of this partnership with our top-notch police department. We’ve spent the past three years training our police officers to handle situations involving people on the spectrum and now we’re bringing the community into that conversation. It’s a huge leap forward for local law enforcement.”

The aim of the decal program is to alert police officers that someone living with autism may be inside a home or vehicle.

“This decal program is a testament to the continued efforts of the Miami-Dade Police Department to meet the needs of our community. Collaborating with our community leaders we can create awareness and educate our residents and officers,” Daniels said.

“The new Autism Decal Program will alert police officers that someone with autism is inside of a home or vehicle prior to making contact. This will allow our officers to draw on their autism training during their interactions with persons with ASD.”

The Occupant with Autism Decal Program is the second part of a massive training effort of police and other county departments that began in 2021 through a partnership with the University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (UM-NSU CARD).

As part of legislation sponsored by Commissioner Regalado, UM-NSU CARD has trained more than 2,100 police officers and 138 firefighters, including best practices for on-site scene crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques when interacting with persons with ASD. According to UM-NSU CARD, there are at least 50,000 persons with ASD in Miami-Dade alone.

A retired law enforcement commander and father of an adult with autism, Bart Barta, of Autism 101 Inc., is in charge of training Miami-Dade police officers and firefighters as a result of the partnership between the county and CARD. His training focuses on teaching police officers and first responders how to recognize persons with autism, how to respond to them, and how to manage the risks involving individuals with autism.

“The first responders who have taken the training have overwhelmingly responded positively. Some first responders will contact me later to tell me about an encounter that they had with an autistic citizen and how the training benefited them greatly,” Barta said.

“This program will tremendously benefit first responders and autistic citizens. The more information a first responder has about the person they are interacting with, the greater the chances for a successful outcome for all involved.”

The decal program provides two free decals to families of persons with autism. The decals can be picked up at Miami-Dade Police stations.

The post Commissioner, Miami-Dade Police kick off Autism Decal Program appeared first on Raquel Regalado.

Approved last week by the Miami Dade County Commission, the decal is meant to be placed at the front door of a home or a car window to notify police officers and firefighters of a potential interaction with a resident living with autism.

The decal reads, “Occupant with autism, may not respond to verbal commands.”

Dr. Diane Adreon with the University of Miami’s Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) says the decals can aid in the training of law enforcement officers.

“There are so many nuances that people could not know how to react, and they could take their behaviors the wrong way,” said Dr. Adreon. “It gives people with autism or family members an opportunity to safely disclose the disability in a circumstance where they may be interacting with law enforcement.”

When it launches in April, Miami-Dade residents will be able to pick up the free decal from their local Miami-Dade Police station.

District 7 Commissioner Raquel Regalado says there are plans for the county to partner with agencies in other municipalities, to expand the program. She also believes this program will free up county resources.

“We have a lot of autistic people that are unnecessarily either arrested or Baker Acted when in fact de-escalation would have been the solution,” said Commissioner Regalado. “There’s an entire community where parents worry about this when their kids leave the sight of their caregivers.”

North Miami launched a similar decal and autism outreach program in 2022 following the 2016 incident when a man with autism was shot at by a police officer after the toy truck he was holding was mistaken for a gun.

Like Miami Dade’s, the program includes training with first responders to help them communicate with an individual during a moment of crisis.

North Miami Police Commander Rocio Torres says the program is so popular, that they’ve had to turn away non-residents who’ve asked to enroll.

“I think that officers, going in already knowing what to expect really helps make those interactions more positive,” said Commander Torres. “I’m really happy that the county has finally jumped in because we do have a lot of people wanting to be part of the program and we have to turn them down because we’re a small municipality, so can only have people in North Miami that can enroll.”

Miami Dade’s outreach program is expected to launch in April 2024.

The post Miami-Dade rolls out decals for people with autism: ‘May not respond to verbal commands’ appeared first on Raquel Regalado.

Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado remembers the day she decided to run for office.

As the parent of two neurodivergent children, she became frustrated with the options, or lack thereof, provided to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other disabilities. So, she ran for the Miami-Dade School Board in 2010. She immediately became a voice for autism awareness. During her two terms, she championed programs and services for special needs students.

Next week, to kick off Autism Acceptance Month, Regalado will launch a program with Miami-Dade Police to distribute decals for families to place on the windows of their homes and autos to alert firefighters and law enforcement officers that someone with autism may be inside. It displays a rainbow infinity symbol, which represents neurodiversity, and includes the words “may not respond to verbal commands,” in the middle.

People on the spectrum may be completely non-verbal or, in contrast, may be unable to stop talking or making sounds. They may also be unable to stand still or “freeze”, if directed by police and, in fact, often jump around, rock back and forth, or flap their arms — actions that can be misinterpreted as aggressive.

These decals could save lives.

Charles Kinsey and/or Arnardo Rios-Soto could be dead today if it weren’t for bad aim. The mental health worker and the 26-year-old autism patient were shot three times by North Miami Police Officer Jonathan Aledda, who missed Rios-Soto and struck Kinsey in the leg. A viral video shows Kinsey on the ground with his arms up, as directed by police, begging and shouting for them not to shoot. Rios-Soto was rocking back and forth with a shiny fire truck toy in his hands. Aledda — whose conviction on culpable negligence was overturned in 2022 — said he mistook it for a gun.

But it’s just because of his poor firearm skills that Rios-Soto is with us today.

Ryan Gainer and his family were not so lucky. The 15-year-old, who was diagnosed with autism as a toddler, was fatally shot by police in California earlier this month, again sparking a national conversation about how law enforcement deals with people with ASD.

Regalado sponsored a county commission resolution last summer to establish the Occupant with Autism decal program, which provides two free decals to families of persons with autism. The program is already up and running at some municipal police departments, including Hialeah and North Miami Beach.

At a press conference with Miami-Dade Police Director Stephanie Daniels before the commission meeting Tuesday morning, Regalado will ask other municipalities to participate, too.

“I’ve been on a mission to make Miami-Dade a safer, more inclusive place for our residents of all abilities,” Regalado said in a statement. “I couldn’t be prouder of this partnership with our top-notch police department. We’ve spent the past three years training our police officers to handle situations involving people on the spectrum and now we’re bringing the community into that conversation.

“It’s a huge leap forward for local law enforcement,” she said.

This is part two of a larger effort to improve how county personnel handle emergency response situations involving persons with ASD, of which there are about 50,000 in Miami-Dade, according to the University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities. In partnership with the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, the county has already had 2,100 police officers and 138 firefighters trained in the best practices for on-site crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques when interacting with persons with ASD.

Miami-Dade County residents can pick up the free “Occupant with Autism” decals at their nearest county police station, as well as at the Pinecrest Farmer’s Market from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Saturday, April 27, at Autism Family Fun Day at Devon Aire Park.

The post Autism decal program is personal to County Commissioner Raquel Regalado appeared first on Raquel Regalado.