By Alan Johnson

The Columbus Dispatch Friday May 11, 2012 5:49 AM

Sgt. Mark Farrar of the Akron Police Department, here with his son Kyle, spends many days speaking to fellow law-enforcement officers about how to deal with people with autism, like Kyle, now 5.

Akron Police Sgt. Mark Farrar knows the facts of autism in his head and the pain of autism in his heart.

With the incidence of autism rising rapidly 1 in 88 children (and 1 in 54 boys) are born with some form of it law-enforcement agencies are being affected because, Farrar says, the autistic are seven times as likely as others to come into contact with first responders such as police, fire and paramedics. They also are more likely to be crime victims.

We talk about autism in kids as if they mysteriously disappear when they become adults, Farrar said yesterday at Attorney General Mike DeWines Two Days in May crime-victims conference in the Hyatt Regency. Those kids are growing up, becoming adults, living in our communities. We cant assume first responders know how to deal with them on their own.

Farrar, 39, who spends half his time patrolling the streets of Akron, has a son Kyle, 5, who has Aspergers syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism. Farrar became a self-taught expert on the subject after his sons autism was diagnosed, and he now trains law-enforcement and other organizations about autism, often on his own time.

Autism is a development disorder that often shows up early in childhood. It is marked by communication and behavioral issues but is not mental retardation.

An audience of 1,000 was spellbound yesterday as Farrar blended the story of his familys struggles raising Kyle and the growing trend for autistic individuals to become victims and sometimes perpetrators of crime. He showed a clip from the Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman movie Rain Man, offering a glimpse of life with autism.

We have to convince police theres a need for this training, not because I have a son, but because of research and statistics, he said. As I say in training law enforcement, This is coming to a call near you.

See more here:
Officer urges autism training for first responders