Retired Paterson Police Officer Larry Rudesyle recalls when words like ‘crazy’ and ‘retarded’ were used in dispatches to refer to a person behaving erratically.
First responders on the scene might shout at the person to stay still and physically subdue him if he didn’t – only to find out later that the behavior was a manifestation of a developmental disability.
Recently, television shows like Glee have crusaded to banish stereotypes that surround the developmentally disabled. Similarly, the New Jersey Legislature made a big push to improve first responders’ understanding about developmental disabilities and better handle encounters by passing a law in 2008 mandating training. The result was an online course for the state’s more than 100,000 police officers, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel.
