Reader’s Question About the Police
November 27, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Lynda, who has a 16-year-old autistic son, just left this comment involving her son and a police officer in St. Louis, Missouri.
I have an emergency situation with my 16yo autistic son who has been severely assaulted (beaten, tazered, etc. after being fully restrained and put in a police car) by a police officer. He was wrongfully accused of a felony. His father and I witnessed the entire thing, so we are certain. We witnessed the assault, too. It’s a nightmare! My son is being held in a detention center — TOTALLY the wrong place for this VERY good child. He is suffering from PTSD as a result of this recent trauma, not to mention all of the pre-existing issues (severe anxiety disorder, etc.) His regular doctor is ill. I MUST find a new psychiatrist or neurologist for him IMMEDIATELY, in the St. Louis, MO or surrounding area. It must be someone specialized, and someone willing to do forensic work as this will involve a criminal trial and later, a civil case (We will sue the police and the city, obviously.)
I’m sorry if this isn’t the best place to post, be we are desperate, as all of you parents with autistic children can imagine. PLEASE send any information, links, etc. that you have. I don’t need parenting advice: Just information, please. THANK YOU!!!!
~Lynda
James Mulvaney recently wrote about an incident involving 20 year old son Danny the police; he recently gave a presentation on first responders and autism—-stories like the one above point to why more training of emergency personnel are more than needed—-until that happens, if you have any suggestions for Lynda, please leave them in the comments.
I knew a psychiatrist very good with anxiety disorders, with a working knowledge of the autistic spectrum…unfortunately he’s hours north of you & I don’t know if he does forensic work, & as I said HOURS north.
Good luck. I’m so sorry. This is terrible. Tell your son that we (me and my cats) hope that he gets proper help & justice, Lynda.
So scary…this kind of stuff frightens me to no end.
You should contact Anne Roux at MO-FEAT asap. They have a huge resource directory and I’m sure if she doesn’t know who to call she can give you more leads. I am looking at my MO-FEAT booklet right now and see two phone numbers listed, 314-645-6877 and 314-275-8880. Good luck; your family will be in my thoughts.
Lynda,
I am the mother of a 22 y.o. son with fragile X syndrome, which overlaps with autism in many ways. I am originally from St. Louis and have emailed a couple of people for names of a lawyer as well as psychiatrist. Please contact me privately and I will give you any info I can gather. My heart goes out to you.
Dr. Joe, from Club 166 — can you help? Can you make a referral?
Just got home again — thinking of your family. I don’t live in St. Louis but my family might be moving there in a year or so, so I have been networking and looking into things. Anyway in case it helps, here are some #’s from the MO-FEAT directory for neurologists:
Dennis Altman, 314-251-5866
Garrett Burris, 314-275-7070
David Callahan, 314-275-7070
Glen Felton, 314-577-5338
Elizabeth Horton, 573-334-0067
John Mantovani, 314-251-5866
Shulamit Portnoy, 314-539-9543
James Rohrbaugh, 314-275-7070
There is also a long list of psychiatrists, most of whom seem to be reachable at 314-286-1740 or website http://www.wuphysicians.wustl.edu