Autism, critical infrastructure failure and emergency preparedness.
Children and adults with disabilities are often perceived to be at particularly high risk during disasters & emergency situations which can include critical infrastructure failures. Whilst research has looked at the risks to those with disabilities, and organisations & communities have started to think about these issues, it still appears that a large proportion of this work is focused on mobility issues and less so on disabilities that could be considered ‘hidden’ such as Autism.
Due to the nature of Autism it is very likely that this group will have specific needs during an emergency or disaster and may find the situation more stressful than others. However there appears to be very little in the way of emergency preparedness resources, particularly in the UK, for people with Autism and as such they could be more at risk during such events.
This project aimed to begin to address this by focusing on two areas. Firstly to develop emergency preparedness resources that could be used within schools with children with autism, alongside their peers; and secondly to consider and provide information on how people with autism may be impacted and react to a critical infrastructure failure in order that emergency responders and other people may be aware how such events may impact on someone with Autism.
Due to the nature of Autism it is very likely that this group will have specific needs during an emergency or disaster and may find the situation more stressful than others. However there appears to be very little in the way of emergency preparedness resources, particularly in the UK, for people with Autism and as such they could be more at risk during such events.
This project aimed to begin to address this by focusing on two areas. Firstly to develop emergency preparedness resources that could be used within schools with children with autism, alongside their peers; and secondly to consider and provide information on how people with autism may be impacted and react to a critical infrastructure failure in order that emergency responders and other people may be aware how such events may impact on someone with Autism.
Autism emergency preparedness materials
Casey Edmonds (Research Fellow at UEL), in collaboration with Rosanna Briggs from Essex Civil Protection and Emergency Management (ECPEM), has developed some emergency preparedness resources for use with children with autism within schools. The resources, a book and an In Case of Emergency (ICE) card, were developed by adapting the already successful series of ‘What If?’ resources designed by Essex Civil Protection and Emergency Management (ECPEM) to be accessible for people with autism. The book, ‘What If? I have autism and there is an emergency’ has been designed to help children with autism prepare for an emergency event involving a fire or flood and is designed to support them in knowing what to expect and what to do. The ICE card has been developed to be specific to people with autism as a tool that they can hand out in an emergency to ensure those helping them can be informed they have autism and how they might react or behave and what they can do to help.
What If? In Case of Emergency (ICE) card
What If? In Case of Emergency (ICE) card
What If? I have autism - book.
what_if..._i_am_autistic_final.pdf | |
File Size: | 8218 kb |
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‘Infrastructure failure! How would people with autism react?'
Further work for this project involved developing and designing a comic book resource to advise and inform how someone with autism may react during an infrastructure failure such as a telecommunications failure or gas failure.
The comic book was developed and designed using a comic voice methodology and based on data from the Anytown workshops held in 2014 as part of the overall project. The Anytown workshops were held with different organizations and sectors and focused on how these organizations would respond to critical infrastructure collapses in the telecommunications network and the gas supply.
The data gathered from these Anytown workshops was presented to the illustrator for the comics, who herself has autism, and along with the researcher, Casey Edmonds, who has expertise in autism and emergency preparedness, a new table of data was devised focusing on how this would affect someone with autism. This table of data was then consulted with other autism experts to ensure it would be relevant to many people with autism before finally being illustrated into the informative comic book resource.
The purpose of this comic book is to inform others of the potential impact on people with autism and how they might react to ensure there is a better understanding and more preparation and planning for this group of people should such emergencies or disasters occur.
The comic book was developed and designed using a comic voice methodology and based on data from the Anytown workshops held in 2014 as part of the overall project. The Anytown workshops were held with different organizations and sectors and focused on how these organizations would respond to critical infrastructure collapses in the telecommunications network and the gas supply.
The data gathered from these Anytown workshops was presented to the illustrator for the comics, who herself has autism, and along with the researcher, Casey Edmonds, who has expertise in autism and emergency preparedness, a new table of data was devised focusing on how this would affect someone with autism. This table of data was then consulted with other autism experts to ensure it would be relevant to many people with autism before finally being illustrated into the informative comic book resource.
The purpose of this comic book is to inform others of the potential impact on people with autism and how they might react to ensure there is a better understanding and more preparation and planning for this group of people should such emergencies or disasters occur.
LAUNCH: Autism, critical infrastructure failure and emergency preparedness
The ‘What If? I have autism’ book, ICE card and the comic resource ‘Infrastructure failure! How would people with autism react?’ designed as part of this project were all launched at an event held at Essex County Fire and Rescue HQ on the 23rd November 2015 in collaboration with Essex Civil Protection and Emergency Management (ECPEM). The launch event was attended by practitioners from different areas including emergency services, transport services, Telecom services, counselling services and support services.Delegates were welcomed by The Lord Lieutenant of Essex, The Lord Petre and presentations were given by Rosanna Briggs (ECPEM), Professor John Preston (UEL) and Casey Edmonds (UEL). Following the presentations delegates were invited to look at the resources and have discussions about the impact the resources could have for people with autism.
Following the launch delegates were invited to complete an evaluation form which included rating the resources on a scale between 1 and 5 with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent.
88% of delegates rated the ‘What If?...I have autism’ book as 4-5 out of 5
82% of delegates rated the ‘What If?....I have autism’ ICE card as 4-5 out of 5
70% of delegates rated the ‘Infrastructure Failure! How would people with autism react?’ Comic as 4-5 out of 5.
Consultancy
In early 2016 we will be offering consultancy packages based on this work, including training and hard copy resources, if you are interested in discussing this further please contact Casey Edmonds [email protected].
Following the launch delegates were invited to complete an evaluation form which included rating the resources on a scale between 1 and 5 with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent.
88% of delegates rated the ‘What If?...I have autism’ book as 4-5 out of 5
82% of delegates rated the ‘What If?....I have autism’ ICE card as 4-5 out of 5
70% of delegates rated the ‘Infrastructure Failure! How would people with autism react?’ Comic as 4-5 out of 5.
Consultancy
In early 2016 we will be offering consultancy packages based on this work, including training and hard copy resources, if you are interested in discussing this further please contact Casey Edmonds [email protected].
Videos |
UEL Press release: Researchers create disaster resources for people with autism
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Publications from this work
Edmonds, C. (2015) Designing emergency preparedness resources for children with autism. (Journal article - awaiting decision from publisher)