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Lewis County, WV: First responders get autism training

July 20, 2021, WBOY, Fairmont, WV: First responders learn about situations with autism https://www.wboy.com/news/lewis/first-responders-learn-about-situations-with-autism/

Autism affects 1 in 54 children in the United States. So, what happens when a first responder comes into contact with someone who has autism? That’s what the West Virginia Autism Training Center from Marshall University is hoping to teach first responders in Lewis County. “But, in almost all cases, individuals with autism have really significant challenges with social communication,” said Dr. Marc Eillison, Executive Director of the West Virginia Autism Training Center. The idea to bring the training to Lewis County started with 26th Judicial Circuit Court Community Corrections and their treatment coordinator, Samantha Ribeiro-Matos, who has two sons who are autistic and non-verbal. “I’m a mom of two young toddlers that have autism, and my boss allowed me to kind of explore, and we’ve done some fundraising and some different activities for autism. When we did that, we got a lot of feedback that they would really like to receive specialized training.” The training also came with backpacks for first responders to help children with autism during long situations. Several sensory items, such as weighted blankets, headphones and soft toys, are included inside these backpacks. “My biggest fear is that we would be in an emergency situation and I wouldn’t be able to speak for them,” said Ribeiro Matos…. “Autism can look like a lot of different things. Police officers, especially, interact with a lot of people who have lots of behavioral challenges just by the nature of their job. So, we want to give them just one more profile to consider if they happen upon a scene and recognize some unusual behavior,” said Dr. Ellison.


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