The Somerville City Council’s Public Health and Public Safety Committee took up the issue of better serving the needs of those suffering from autism.

By Jackson Ellison

The City of Somerville is looking for ways to help children with autism feel more comfortable both in the community and in public schools. The city is also trying to help first responders have better interactions when it comes to interacting with a person with autism while responding to an emergency call.

The Public Health and Public Safety Committee met on Monday, April 1, to discuss these topics with the Chief of Police David Fallon and the Director of Health and Human Services Doug Kress.

Chief Fallon says that police cadets, when going through the police academy receive 12 hours of training on mental health, three hours of which are dedicated to autism. “We’re really emphasizing to our officers that you don’t have to take over these situations, your mindset should be let’s communicate,” said Fallon.

There is a system set in place where people can voluntarily give information to the police department that a person in the household has autism, so responding officers can have an idea of what some of the triggers are for the person, before arriving on the scene.

Besides teaching first responders how to respond to a person with autism, the city and the police department are also trying to help people with autism become more comfortable with police officers. Chief Fallon says there is a program called STEPS that focuses on police officers interacting with kids in grade school, and he thinks the program should be expanded to officers having more comfortable interactions with children with autism.

An issue brought up during the meeting was that information for parents of children with autism is not readily available. People often have to do all the research themselves, which can be very confusing and unclear. So parents asked that the city take steps to make information easier to find.

A problem the schools are facing when it comes to helping children with autism is not having the right amount of resources available for both the kids and the parents. Parents who spoke at the committee meeting brought up that while some teachers have been good for their kids, others didn’t really know how to help.

Parents also took issue with the fact that there are no recreational sports or activities offered by the City of Somerville available to children with autism. Parents discussed how the city should sponsor events that meet the sensory needs of children with autism, for example renting out a community pool and having a swim day.

The Public Health and Public Safety Committee now plans to move forward by establishing more meetings, to figure out how to help children with Autism more and to start setting events to help with children feel like they are a part of the Somerville community.