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FALL NEWSLETTER
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Optimize Your Giving
An informant calls us from a prison, asking "Do you do advocacy?" and after we assure them of confidentiality, they reveal a teen with autism, treated with respect by some staff, yet held in solitary confinement after being pepper sprayed alone in their cell and restrained multiple times by a bullying guard. Thanks to an Autism Connection board member, we locate a pro bono attorney who visits the teen and secures her release as her county frees up a Consolidated Waiver and appropriately houses her within weeks. We were glad to attend the first Individual Supports Plan meeting with the person and their new support team.
The follwing type of call happens all too frequently: Someone Googles us and calls because their son, due to disability behaviors, is going to be arrested, or has been arrested, or is in the county jail and needs his psychiatric medication. We recommend courses of action, link them to legal aid, and use contacts we have developed, ranging from the court system to inside jails, to get as much helpful attention as possible directed to a person.
Early intervention in the criminal legal system is critical to keep someone from falling further and further into court or jail involvement, where individual and family trauma and/or physical harm, including suicidal behaviors, are tragically common occurrences.
Your donation, big or small, helps us continue our vital work with situations like these.
Donors like you keep us going as a lifeline and hub for families and adults, providing support, information and advocacy.