Canada autism registry: Safety at cost of sensitivity

Recently, the city of Ottawa, Canada formed a child autism registry. A collaboration between the Autism Organization of Ontario and the Ottawa Police Department, the registry allows 911 dispatchers to respond to emergencies involving children with autism spectrum disorder. The two organizations argued heavily for the formation of the registry, saying that it would help these children receive optimal emergency care.

It’s difficult to say whether or not this registry will infringe upon individual privacy, but the measure will undeniably afford the Ottawa Police Department more specific information on what to expect in an emergency involving an autistic child. For example, children with ASD may not be able to respond to police requests and orders. Through the autism registry, the challenges of communication, coordination, cognition, and control of self are taken into account as products of ASD, rather than intentional violation of the law. In this aspect, the autism registry is compelling, as it demonstrates good intentions on the part of officials, who are genuinely interested in improving emergency response for the disabled.

Though an autism registry does potentially allow officials to respond to emergencies more peacefully, it fails to take into account the individual incapacities of ASD. Some autistic children may be prone to violent outbursts, while others may be able to control their actions over time and with the help of professional therapy. Additionally, in cases of mild autism, law enforcement faces the possibility of being too sensitive and accommodating towards children who are actually in control of their actions and emotions.
Criminals have long used tactics involving false mental illness and cognitive incapacity to evade consequences and charges of their crimes. Although children may be too young to understand the potential to employ this ruse, parents of children with mild autism may take advantage of the disability and the registry to liberate their children from consequences of their actions. Tara Fisher (MSB’15) has dedicated her past four summers to working with Autistic children, and shares similar concerns. “I’ve worked with autistic kids on different levels, and they are still humans,” she said. “Being autistic does not mean that you are unaccountable for your actions.” While certain children may not understand how to behave, to group an entire spectrum of people into one single registry leaves room for confusion and dishonesty.

Autism of any severity not only challenges the person who receives the diagnosis; it also affects that person’s family. Although I do not have any close friends or family members with autism, I, like many other people in America and Canada, am uncomfortable with the idea of making a child’s personal incapacities so open to law enforcement officials and the general public. In registering an autistic child, parents are in effect typecasting their children, defining their entire identity as people through one label, leaving factors like personality, aspirations, and even severity of their conditions as second-rate details.

Further, this registry is anomalous in that other mental conditions, which could potentially complicate emergency situations and hinder the abilities of ambulance workers, do not have their own registries. No one is seriously considering implementing a registry for bipolar disorder or attention deficit disorder. What makes autism so different? The ASD registry is a noble concept, but in its current form, it raises more questions about law enforcement sensitivity and how police will treat different levels of autism than it promises in possible protection.