UCLA

The overall prevalence of autism is increasing in the Black community. Few studies examine the perspectives of Black, autistic individuals regarding interactions with law enforcement officers –both in school and beyond. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the experiences and perspectives of Black, autistic individuals and law enforcement officers regarding their mutual interactions. Four Black, autistic individuals and four law enforcement officers were recruited for this study. There was an overall discrepancy between the satisfaction of interactions between these two groups. The interviews with autistic participants revealed that while some of them had positive interactions with law enforcement officers in schools, all of those who had interactions with law enforcement in their years beyond school were dissatisfied with those interactions. The interviews with law enforcement officers revealed overall satisfaction with interactions both in school and beyond.