CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Police deal with people every day who do not communicate well, and, for some, that difficulty may be because of a specific diagnosis.
Examples of police confrontations with people with dementia or autism are common nationwide.
In Graham, several years ago when a severely autistic 19-year-old man was confronted and struggled with police, police used a stun gun on him and took him to jail.
But in many cases, advocates say the person police are trying to communicate with simply may not understand what they're being told to do.
The Aransas Pass Police Department is in the process of bringing in trainer Dustin Cronan in order to help its officers navigate those barriers.
Cronan has lived with autism his whole life and hopes to help police and other first responders recognize and communicate with people on the autism spectrum, and others who have other disabilities.
"I've seen others had experiences, too, with them," he said. "Having rundowns with them. Like, say, when we get stopped, or we get pulled over or anything like that, they think we're intoxicated."
Cronan has held training sessions for multiple law enforcement groups in Nueces county. When he addresses Aransas Pass police, it will be the first such session in San Patricio County.
"We need to understand certain triggers for different types of people, whether it be cultural or somebody that's autistic," said Aransas Pass Asst. Police Chief Aaron Jones. "Somebody with dementia, any of those things. We need to have a better understanding of how to respond to individuals, since we deal with a little bit of everybody."
Cronan said he already has met with state representative Todd Hunter in hopes of taking his mission to help the differently abled to another level.
"Getting it on the driver's license, or carrying ID cards or having GPS bracelets that are house-arrest, where they can monitor electronically and all that good stuff," he said.