The Value of Human Life

 

The thing I should be writing about today is this, and it is breaking me. 

Howard County officers cleared in fatal shooting of man with autism, Lillian Reed, Baltimore Banner 

About twenty per cent of US residents identify as neurodivergent. That includes those who are autistic. Neurodivergence means that your brain operates differently. Different than what? Ahh…that’s the thing.

It’s all about being different than established norms. What makes the world more disabling for neurodivergent people is the insistence that there is only one way, the neurotypical way, and anyone else is different. Wrong. A problem. 

If our goal was to accommodate everyone, autism and other neurodivergent conditions would be far less disabling. It is the lack of awareness of this and the resulting lack of accommodation which creates disabling attitudes and situations daily. 

It’s not about some people getting something extra. The fact is our world accommodates people with neurotypical brains. If you are neurotypical you are getting the something extra all the time. The world is set up the way your brain needs it to be.

Our goal could be to accommodate everyone* according to their particular needs. We chose not to do that. So, what does that mean?

If you are neurodivergent: 

• your education will be compromised
• your ability to find challenging and meaningful work will be compromised
• your ability to succeed and be financially independent is compromised, 
• your safety in situations where you encounter law enforcement is compromised

This is the story of why Alex Lamoire, autistic, living independently in a community built to foster neurodivergent residents, was shot by three Howard County Police officers while he was experiencing a mental health crisis.

Lamoire did not behave the way their neurotypical brains told them he should. So they shot him. They were not neutralizing danger. They were neutralizing a variable that they were unprepared to handle.

We can require workplace training in blood borne pathogens, first aid and CPR, but we don’t require comprehensive training in how to work with neurodivergent humans? Why not? There should be training and it should be rigorous and ongoing. 

This is not the time to say that it’s tragic and “oh, that’s too bad but it was unavoidable.” 

This was absolutely preventable. By not holding these officers accountable we are saying that to be autistic is to be so unimportant that your life is not worth valuing and protecting. 

When members of the police force respond to a scene like the one at Patuxent Commons, they should have had so much training that they were prepared to do the things that will truly make that situation safe. Clearly they had not. 

When I first wrote about this in April, I concluded:

The police department must be trained and supported and evaluated and held legally responsible for serving all members of the community. Fact: humans come in a variety of manifestations. All are equally valuable. If our police do not acknowledge that and act accordingly they are not fulfilling their mission.

Autistic residents in Howard County and parents with autistic children look at this ruling and know exactly what it says: if you do not behave in a manner that makes sense to a neurotypical police officer, they can kill you.

Village Green/Town² Comments

*I am aware that neurodivergence is not the only way that the majority assumes power over those deemed the minority. This post deals specifically with autistic and other neurodivergent people.