Montgomery County Police Department Sergeant Laurie Reyes talks to NPR about the autism and dementia unit that is saving lives and helping Maryland families.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Family members of someone with severe autism or dementia face unique caregiving challenges. One of them is the fear that their loved ones will get lost. When a person with autism is removed from their caregivers or home, there can be dire and even fatal consequences. Well, that didn’t happen to six people who eloped last Tuesday in Montgomery County, Maryland, thanks to a unique program from the Montgomery County Police Department. It was the brainchild of Officer Laurie Reyes, who now joins me.
Laurie Reyes: Hi. hello. Thank you for your hospitality.
KELLY: Tell me more about what happened in Montgomery County on Tuesday.
Reyes: First of all, thank you for talking about profound autism, because autism is a spectrum. In these cases, many times our officers or the community have identified individuals with autism who are at immediate risk—and in many cases, their caregivers have found them before calling 911 to report them.
Kelly: What’s the mechanism? For example, how do your officials know? How do they help them get back to a safe place?
Reyes: First and foremost, there are some slogans that I use when we train our officers. I say, think about autism – that means you get a call from that person in the middle of the street, maybe they’re excited. That officer would think, wow, this could be a person with autism, not a — maybe they misinterpret it as being under the influence of something. It is training and experience that allow us to have positive, safe interactions and reunite with our loved ones.
Kelly: Yeah. Your county has 6 cases in one day. Is this an unusually high number?
Reyes: Yes. We usually average about three to eight times a week.
KELLY: Without going into details that might intrude on anyone’s privacy in my reading, it looks like some of the cases that happened last Tuesday were about kids – young people who were lost, walking into a neighbor’s house – typing things?
Reyes: Yes. Some sneaked into neighbors’ houses. A couple was found very close to each other, either at an intersection or in a parking lot – very dangerous places for them all.
Kelly: Yes. The project you create within the police department is the Autism/IDD Alzheimer’s and Dementia Outreach Team. Tell me when, tell me how you came up with the idea.
Reyes: In 2004 – we were actually celebrating our 20th anniversary – but the department was created to respond to these vagrancy and elopements, but also to respond to crises. Therefore, we want to provide training, outreach, empowerment, follow-up and response at all levels to support not just caregivers, but all people with autism on their journey.
Kelly: I can hear the promise in your voice. very cute. I was wondering if you could give me a sense of scale – what kind of difference it makes. For example, in Montgomery County, how many interactions do you typically have in a year?
Reyes: So a core part of our department is providing follow-up. Last year, we provided over 600 follow-up visits to families, and this year we will likely do close to 1,000 follow-up visits. Follow-up says to a family, yes, we may have found your child at a crossroads and we want to support you, right? We want to assist you.
So the impact is on the caregiver, the individual. You know, we go into schools and talk to people who are on the autism spectrum. We offer driving lessons for those who are already driving and have autism. So the impact is to create what I call a culture of action in Montgomery County, not just awareness, which is to say, when you understand your loved one or your level of independence, we’re there to help you.
KELLY: That’s Officer Laurie Reyes of the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland. Thank you so much.
Reyes: Thank you for having me.
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