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Elkhart County-area police learn about interacting with the disabled

Goshen News - 6/22/2017

June 22--ELKHART -- More than 30 law enforcement officers from Elkhart County received training this week to learn how to communicate and interact with people in the community who have disabilities.

Staff from ADEC spent Tuesday and Wednesday at the Elkhart County Correctional Complex providing tips to officers for effectively communicating and interacting with people with disabilities if encountered during their line of work. ADEC staff said some situations involving people with disabilities can quickly escalate if not handled properly.

"We serve people from the time they're small to the end of life," said ADEC Chief Development Officer Jessica Koscher. "(We) have to accommodate different personalities and lives."

Riley O'Brien performed a card trick during the "Meet ADEC Clients" portion of the day Tuesday. Why the card trick? O'Brien said for some reason he dreams about them at night while he is asleep.

O'Brien said he has autism.

"When I was about 5 years old, I knew there was something different about myself," he said.

Elkhart Police Department Chief Ed Windbigler, who was in attendance Tuesday, said the training helps him and the department learn that not every person in the community is the same as the next.

"Gives us a different perspective of the citizens we're going to deal with," he said.

Follow Adam on Twitter @adamrandall_TGN

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