May 2, 2024, KTUL, Tulsa, OK: Bridging autism communication gap: Oklahoma bill permits autism indication on licenses
Bridging the communication gap between people on the autism spectrum and law enforcement officials or first responders is one of the goals that House Bill 3671 is trying to accomplish.
Since the passing of this legislation, people will soon have the option to indicate on their license that they have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
The author of the bill, State Representative Nicole Miller, explains why this legislation is so important for Oklahomans.
“Really what we’re doing is helping our first responders, law enforcement, understand better what situation they're walking into so that it doesn’t escalate to something it never should be in the first place," said Miller.
Including in the bill is training for law enforcement officials on how to effectively communicate with a person who has been diagnosed with autism. Cory Sutton is a retired police officer who now hosts some of that training for law enforcement agencies across the state.
“These individuals because a lot of them have a processing difficulty may be slow to respond to that said command. So, maybe if we’re able to recognize that they have autism we can slow down and give them time to respond to our questions, our commands before we as law enforcement step up," Sutton said.
Sutton says that the training dives into behavior indications, de-escalation techniques, and more.
Stacey Weddington, the Community Impact Director for Autism Oklahoma, shared how this legislation allows people on the autism spectrum to communicate with officers or other first responders about their diagnoses clearly and quickly.
“It can give our drivers confidence to get on the road knowing that there’s going to be some understanding if something does go wrong, knowing that they’ll have something that they can pull out and say, I’m sorry I don’t respond they way you want me to or expect me to, but I have autism and it’s really hard for me," Weddington said.
Drivers can expect to see this option become available in November 2025.
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