Originally Posted by Ammi (Post 5020646)

..I am no authority on autism..I have worked with two autistic children at different times and both were completely different in personality...although there are 'guidlines' and techniques in recognising when an autistic child is becoming anxious and failing to manager their emotions...like anyone else...each one is different..so 'managing' this..is a personal care plan to that particular child only. The techniques used are to try and prevent..what occurred at the pool in the first place...especially in an unfamiliar public place. Tbh..I have only ever been with a child 'at the beginning'..and fortunately have been able to 'calm' them.

I have had to 'restrain' a child from hurting themselves..and others, including myself...so I can imagine how the police officers must have felt about the 'situation' and what they should do..there wasn't really much they could do..other than get him to a safe place..and allow it to...subside.

The whole thing was a bit of a c*ck up..but imo..the c*ck up started before the police officers arrived..nobody had succeeded in containing or preventing it..certainly not the people who were trained to recognise the early anxieties...and yet..the police officers are criticised for 'not handling it properly'...when the only way to 'diffuse'..is to do it at the early signs..when the officers weren't present

I feel very sorry for the boy..this will have had a devastating effect on his condition..but I feel sorry for the officers too. One interesting thing, in this case..is that his parents have said they didn't want any compensation at all...what they wanted was awareness and training techniques for the police force. I find this interesting because..there was fault with his carers too...but they already have training..so I believe the parents when they say, they took it to court to 'raise awareness'...the police have never denied that they have no training in this area. Hopefully this case may change that. The judge, himself said they acted in a way..they thought was..safest..for everyone