From the heart: Dad speaks out on autism
Friday, January 09, 2004 (11:10:53)

Posted by Sylvia

source Owings Mills Times 07/01/2004

by Lisa Rosato

The father of a 10-year-old autistic boy, Baltimore County paramedic Andy Magness knows firsthand how difficult it can be to administer aid to a person who can be very hard to communicate with.

Getting the person to answer simple questions, like, "What's wrong? Where does it hurt?" can take hours, he said.

The autistic person has "to let you into their world," he said. "You have to chip away at their defense mechanisms until you win."

Bill Davis, author, father and advocate for people with autism, wishes more emergency personnel were as knowledgeable as Magness about autism, a condition with characteristics that may be confused with with those of mental illness or drug abuse.

Davis, who lives in Pennsylvania, visited the Pikesville Fire Station Dec. 8 to explain how medical personnel should respond to a person with autism, a complex developmental disorder that typically appears during the first three years of life.

According to the Autism Society of America, autism is the result of a neurological disorder that affects brain function.

It is estimated that autism and its associated behaviors affect from two to six people out of every 1,000. Autism is four times more prevalent in boys than girls.

Davis, 50, is co-author of two books on autism, "Breaking Autism's Barriers: A Father's Story" and "Dangerous Encounters: Avoiding Perilous Situations With Autism." the co-author of both books is Wendy Goldband of Owings Mills.

The two teamed up in 1999, three years after Davis discovered his now 10-year-old son, Chris, had autism.

Of Davis, Goldband says with a laugh:

"I took one look at this guy with all these tattoos and thought, 'Who is he?' But within one minute I knew this was a very impassioned man."

Impassioned is right.

Davis spent years researching the condition on his own and began teaching others, mainly law enforcement officials, about it. He even had the word "autism" tattooed on his chest as a symbol of solidarity with his son.

"My main mission is awareness," Davis said. "Awareness to me means understanding why a child is doing what he's doing."

At his first talk in Baltimore County, Davis explained to 15 paramedics how to recognize and interact with people who have autism.

The condition is characterized by many different behaviors that may seem bizarre to those unfamiliar with autism.

Actions include fast flapping of the hands and other self-stimulating actions, like tapping the head, rocking back and forth while sitting, and spinning or twirling.

"These movements distract them away from hurtful or unknown things," Davis explained.

Autistic individuals will also engage in aggressive activity such as biting, pinching, punching, or eye gouging. Others may not respond to questions or mimic what is being said to them.

"It's like being in fight-or-flight mode all the time," Davis said.

Unless autistic behaviors are recognized by law enforcement officials and paramedics, emergency situations may become even more serious.

Davis told a story about an autistic child who went with his nanny to the mall, became overwhelmed and started lashing out.

The nanny ran outside and got into her car. The child followed her, banging on the windows to be let in.

Security personnel maced the child, who then ran into a store to wipe the irritant from his eyes.

According to Davis, the security guard maced the child again before cuffing him. Davis said the child died from stress brought on by the incident.

"At some point in your careers, you will come across" a situation like this, Davis said. "It's not a behavioral problem. These are not bad kids. They are frustrated because they can't communicate."

Davis advised the paramedics to approach autistic individuals slowly and quietly, get on their level and maintain eye contact.

"The more you come at them aggressively, the more they're going to lash out," Davis said.

Because autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning the severity of symptoms ranges widely _ some with autism are social, others are totally non-verbal _ it can be even especially difficult to differentiate it from mental illness or attention deficit disorder.

Bianca Brightful, a paramedic who attended the lecture, responds to a lot of calls to group homes in the Catonsville area.

The information on autism will be very helpful because "A lot of the things we see are similar," she said.

The lecture was organized by Paul Burke, a shift commander for the Baltimore County Fire Department.

"To get the paramedics educated about this, we thought we'd give it a try," he said. "Now we'll be able to recognize (autism) early and avoid a problem."

Burke said he plans to hold another lecture on autism later in the year, along with other educational seminars.

Davis has been speaking about autism for eight years in states as far away as Texas.

"I love my son more than anything in this world," Davis said. "To me he is a citizen of this country, and he deserves to be able to walk down the street without being accosted."