Autism is not synonymous with dangerousness, in fact,  people with autism  are much more likely to be the victims of a crime than they are the perpetrators.  When people with autism  do come into contact with the juvenile and criminal justice system it is important to view the offense through the lens of autism.  Preventing offenses and improving school and community safety has become a priority for many jurisdictions. Cross-System approaches include law enforcement, school-based providers, outside mental health professionals and service providers to assess risk, determine appropriate countermeasures, and connect vulnerable  youth and adults to pro-social support and services before they engage in criminal activity. This presentation will focus on the vulnerabilities of people with autism once they enter the criminal justice system, cross systems approaches to prevent contact and improve outcomes and provide a first person account from a person who is neurodiverse and their experiences with first responders. 


About the Presenter

Laurie Sperry
Dr. Laurie Sperry is a Licensed, Board Certified Behavior Analyst- Doctoral and the Founder of Autism Forensics, in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. She has worked as a developer of the Neurodiverse Student Support Program at Stanford University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. Prior to joining Stanford, she was an Assistant Clinical Faculty at Yale University, Department of Psychiatry where she was a founding member of the Autism Forensics Group. In 2006 she was added to the Fulbright Scholarship’s Senior Specialist Roster for Autism. Her research focuses on people with ASD who come in contact with the criminal justice system to ensure their humane and just treatment. She has provided training to secure forensic psychiatric facilities across the globe and has published numerous articles and book chapters. Dr. Sperry has collaborated with the Behavior Analysis Unit of the FBI on cases involving people with autism and has worked with numerous law enforcement agencies to educate and support officers and other first responders.
Sammie Wicks
Sammie Wicks is a Senior Program Manager at the National Policing Institute's Center for Mass Violence Response Studies. Prior to working with the National Policing Institute, Sammie served as a law enforcement officer for ten years. He began his law enforcement career with the Memphis Police Department in 2011, where he served in various roles including patrol officer, crisis intervention officer, and community outreach officer. Sammie then served as a police officer with the Aurora Police Department from 2016 to 2021. As a member of the agency's Crisis Response Team, he developed and managed the agency's Targeted Violence Prevention Program. In this role, he partnered with a mental health professional and conducted behavioral threat assessments and individualized pre-criminal psycho-social interventions. Sammie has previously served as a Data and Research Task Force member on the Colorado Governor's Human Trafficking Council. Sammie currently serves as a Colorado Preventing Targeted Violence team member, supporting local threat management teams. Sammie is an affiliate faculty at Metropolitan State, University of Denver in the Criminal Justice and Criminology Department. Sammie's research focuses on transnational organized crime in diaspora communities, terrorist propaganda, and violent social movements. He holds an M.A. in International Security with a Middle Eastern and North African Religious and Political Thought specialization from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. He also holds a B.A. in History from Rhodes College.
Isabelle Morris
Isabelle Morris is an Autistic young adult currently pursuing her Ph.D. in developmental psychology at the University of Minnesota. In 2019, Isabelle earned a B.A.H. in psychology from Stanford University where she was also a coxswain on the Men's Rowing team. Professionally, Isabelle is interested in studying how autistic people understand the mental life of others (because they do!). Her other special interests include rowing and dogs.
Alessandra

This was a fascinating subject manner! As a clinician and parent of an autistic child nearing teenage years I am very concerned with the perceptions of autistic individuals by law enforcement. I really appreciated the different perspectives from the presenters, it made for a very well-rounded lecture.

Anonymous

This was one of the most fascinating topics and most helpful discussions I've been part of. The time just flew by, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the presenters and their perspectives.

Sheena T.

Thank you very much for this informative course information. It has given me an incredible eye opener to catching and preventing statistics for young people. Being a mother with 3 ASD boys and a husband with ASD I stand behind anything current and how preventative we can be. The statement by Isabelle people who are in crisis are having a hard time not giving a hard time is a bold and powerful statement.

Deborah M.

This is such an important topic. Training sessions for police and teens with autism would help to alleviate some of the incidents that go awry.

Anonymous

Points were well explained. I appreciated the use of visual addition 'slides'

Anonymous

Excellent presentation with lots of good information and ideas.

Subhasis

It was great topic and presentation. For me it was the first time dealing with this topic , very informative and will definitely help me working with Autistic children ,their care givers and community at large.

Anonymous

I t was good and would recommend

Leanne M.

This is without doubt one of the best webinars I have attended in quite some time. The information was engaging and thoughtfully presented, with practical examples that my clients can use right away.

Anonymous

Thank you. Excellent training!

Course information

$39

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