TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A chance meeting between two fathers at a playground has grown into a new effort aimed at making encounters between first responders and people with autism safer and more informed.
One afternoon, Deputy Chief Jeff Mahoney was pushing his nonverbal autistic son on a swing when he met another father doing the same thing. Their conversation turned into a shared commitment to improving how first responders interact with individuals with autism.
That vision became reality Thursday with the launch of the Approach with Care Autism Awareness Initiative, backed by Chief Revell.
As part of the community partnership, families and autistic adults can receive a free Approach with Care vehicle decal. The decal is designed to discreetly alert first responders that someone inside the vehicle may have autism, providing context before an interaction begins.
Organizers say the initiative is intended to go beyond the decal, focusing on awareness, education and partnership so that interactions start with understanding.