A firefighter who is the father of a son who has autism is teaching other firefighters about how to identify someone who has autism. He is also teaching them how to best help a person who has autism in an emergency situation. He points out that people with autism may react in unexpected ways.
Many children learn about fire safety while they are at school. They participate in fire drills, and learn about why it is important to make sure that everyone leaves the building quickly, and in an orderly fashion. For many kids, this is the first time that they hear the loud sirens, and see the flashing lights, that are a part of fire drills.
As a former teacher, I can tell you that little kids typically end up crying during their first fire drill. The sensory aspects of the experience can be overwhelming, even for children who do not have an autism spectrum disorder. The difference is that kids who don’t have an ASD can push through their confusion enough to follow their classmates out the door to safety.
Bill Cannata is a firefighter. He also is a father. His son, Ted, is now 21 years old. Ted has autism. He is unable to speak, and is highly sensitive to light, sound, and touch.
Children, and adults, who have an autism spectrum disorder are likely to act in ways that firefighters will not expect. Bill Cannata is very aware of this. He understands that people who have autism might resist the efforts made by a firefighter who is trying to rescue that person from a burning building.
The person could become aggressive towards the firefighter. Or, the person might shut down, or “freeze”, and be unable to follow the instructions that the firefighter is trying to give them. Usually, firefighters are first responders, which means that they are the first people to arrive at a fire. They rush in with no way to know if the person that they are helping has autism.
Bill Cannata has been training firefighters, and other first responders, about autism awareness. So far, the fire/rescue autism program has educated more than 15,000 first responders. This training will enable firefighters to be better able to rescue people who have autism. It might also help people who have autism to have a little less confusion in a situation that is stressful for anyone to experience.
Image by Andrew Magill on Flickr