To serve and protect Susan Kahan provides those who work in the justice system with the skills to better serve people with developmental disabilities.
A
n off-duty sheriff ’s deputy was shopping in Walmart when he walked into a frantic scene: a young man sitting in the corner fidgeting with a small toy, surrounded by angry security guards. The guards were yelling at the youth to put his hands behind his back. The young man was crying. “Step back,” the deputy told the security guards. He asked the youth, “are you stimming?” The young man nodded yes. A few more questions, and the deputy had the story: the youth had autism, he had become separated from his father in the store, he was frightened, and he had grabbed the 16
AHS MAGAZINE
WINTER 2020
toy to soothe himself. When the panicked father appeared, peace was restored. How did the deputy correctly assess the situation? He had taken a 40-hour training program on crisis intervention that includes a workshop on developmental disability and communication led by Susan Kahan, DHD clinical staff member and clinician in the UIC Developmental Disabilities Family Clinic. Before taking the training, the deputy had never heard of stimming (self-stimulatory behavior, repetitive motions or actions that people with developmental disability sometimes use for calming). Like the security guards, he would have assumed the young man was resisting.
