Applying for a passport can fill anyone with dread — the lines, the wait time, the paperwork. Stress is a common response. But the process can be overwhelming for people with autism spectrum disorder.
The last time Steve Moyer tried to get a passport for his son Mathew, now 28, it was a mess.
Mathew is nonverbal on the autism spectrum. He needs help with daily tasks, such as putting on his GPS tracker, because he tends to wander.
“Leaving the country is stressful enough on him,” Moyer said. “So this was just a nightmare.”
The throngs of people, uncontrollable noise, and piles of confusing paperwork were so unbearable for Mathew, they had to give up.
But after the Moyers’ hometown of Cooper City earned its Autism Friendly designation in May, Moyer figured he’d try again.
This time, Mathew and his father were taken into a dimly lit office with the door closed, and they were walked through the process slowly.
“This was by far the easiest process we’ve ever had with Mathew,” Moyer said. “We were in and out in 20 minutes.”
Getting a passport is just one part of Cooper City’s efforts to better accommodate people like Mathew. The city earned an “Autism Friendly” designation from the University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities.
After nearly 18 months of training by UM-NSU CARD, much of the city has been equipped to engage people with developmental disabilities. This means creating a “welcoming, compassionate and nonjudgmental environment for individuals with ASD or related disabilities,” stated UM-NSU CARD website.
Cooper City is the most recent city to be designated Autism Friendly in Florida, which has population of over 329,000 people with ASD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This year, 1 in 36 U.S. children have autism, which has grown from 1 in 44 in 2018. By that equation, Cooper City, which has about 8,500 children, would have about 237 children with ASD, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The other Autism Friendly cities are Weston, Parkland and Tampa, said Michelle Costa, UM-NSU CARD’s communications manager.
“As a whole, the city has been very receptive to it,” said Cooper City Parks and Recreation Director Stacie Weiss. “Residents have approached us and told us how relieved they feel for their children. People have been willing to step up and say, ‘How can I help?’”
As part of the program, the city reevaluated how it can better assist people who have visual, auditory and tactile sensitivities, Weiss said. That includes parks and recreation, after-school programs and the police and fire departments.
One way the parks and recreation department helped earn the designation was by setting aside low-sensory areas for outdoor events where there’s loud music or fireworks. These areas are usually separated tents with headphones and stress toys that allow people with ASD to enjoy the event without becoming overstimulated.
Another measure was to add signs in offices that explain what situations to expect, like any noises or social interactions that might cause distress.
“Little changes like these are just small ways you can accommodate someone without having to spend extra money,” said Cooper City Commissioner Jeremy Katzman, who’s helped lead the effort. Next, he and other city leaders are looking to encourage local businesses to become designated Autism Friendly.
Because basic services like getting a haircut can be difficult for people with ASD, Katzman wants more private businesses to undergo the training, which will bring in people with disabilities who might otherwise be dissuaded, he said.
He’s also interested in procuring more jobs for people with ASD.
“If we can help people with autism get better jobs, then that will help them and the economy,” Katzman said.
What it means to be Autism Friendly
UM-NSU CARD partners with community entities to help them create a workspace hospitable to people with ASD and other developmental disabilities.
To earn the designation, the partner applies for the free program, which is supported by fundraising dollars and private donors. The program focuses on training partners to develop a space that’s not just inclusive to clients with ASD, but employees too.
Then a walkthrough is done to ensure its facilities are accommodating and welcoming. If all checks out, UM-NSU CARD awards an Autism Friendly designation and adds the city to their website as an “Autism Friendly Partner.”
The process can take months or years, said UM-NSU CARD officials. In Cooper City, it took about a year.
But for Moyer and his son Mathew, it was worth the effort.
“With everything we’ve been through, this has been a breath of fresh air,” Moyer said.
Moyer is especially reassured by the improved training to the Broward Sheriff’s Office Cooper City District Department.
“Our biggest nightmare as a parent of a child with autism is an encounter with the police,” he said. “If you looked up videos of police interacting with people with autism, you’d be horrified.”
Encounters with police are a genuine concern, because people with ASD tend to wander away from their caretakers, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Mathew has twice slipped out of the house in the middle of the night. In part because of their training, BSO respectfully returned him without making a scene in front of the neighbors, Moyer said.
But for other people who are nonverbal, when an officer tries to stop them or ask their name, the officer might misconstrue their silence as resistance, not knowing the person has ASD.
Current Florida law makes police undergo limited training on interacting with people with ASD. However, BSO Cooper City District deputies receive training above that standard, according to BSO Cooper City District Captain Christopher DeGiovanni.
The curriculum includes how to identify signs of autism, how best to engage people with ASD, and how to properly return them to their families if they wander.
“The number of people diagnosed with autism is rising, and we want to be inclusive with all members of our community,” DeGiovanni said.
To raise autism awareness, the BSO is designing a custom wrap for one of their police cars. It’ll patrol the Cooper City district decked out in multi-colored puzzle pieces and a QR code that leads to the BSO CARES website, a voluntary registry for people with developmental disabilities. When people register their loved ones with ASD, officers will know what to expect if they’re called to duty at that residence.
“For the city’s sake, this all was a significant undertaking,” DeGiovanni said. “It wasn’t easy to bring this about in a very organized way. The city as a whole should celebrate.”
This content was originally published here.