Sheriff's deputies locate missing girl, credit reverse 911
WINCHESTER, Ore. -- Douglas County Sheriff's deputies have located a missing 12-year-old girl, who disappeared from Winchester Elementary School shortly before noon on Tuesday.
Officials with the school reported the autistic girl missing at about 11:40 a.m. Authorities say the girl had been missing from the campus for about 10 minutes.
Law enforcement officers from the Sheriff's Office, Oregon State Police and the Roseburg Police Department, along with firefighters from Fire District #2 responded to the school.
The Douglas County Citizen Emergency Notification System (CENS, also known as reverse 911, was utilized to send a message to citizens in a 1-mile radius around the school.
The girl was located by a citizen who lives in the area and had received the CENS notification at about 12:04 p.m. Officials say the girl was located about 1/2 mile east of the school in the 800 block of Page Road.
Officials say the girl was uninjured.
Authorities are crediting the CENS notification for quickly being able to locate the girl.
A few years ago Dennis Debbaudt was giving first responder courses on Autism in Portland. He is one of the best speakers in the nation on this topic and not only did no one from here attend, not one agency even bothered to respond to my email.
Every day in this country an autistic person wanders, most unaware of danger, the most common outcome is drowning. You have to search for Autistic children differently, instead of a grid pattern from where they were last seen, all bodies of water should be checked first.
Then there are police interactions where autistic children, teens, or adults are misread as ignoring police, or perhaps being beligerant or smart mouths and face horrendous consequences. They are thrown to the ground, tazed, arrested, all because of a lack of understanding. Many are non-verbal or will simply repeat back what is said to them, or answer literally which can sound like smart mouthing. If they are having trouble speaking, an officer may say something like "come on, spit it out" and the autistic person may literally spit on the ground, which if an officer doesn't realize what they are dealing with will simply get angry. Knowing how to recognize autism quickly, knowing how to possibly defuse a situation instead of escalating it, knowing how our children think, knowing they can have severe sensory issues with lights, sound, even smells,  might save them from a seriously traumatic experience or even save their ilfe. People with autistic children read the horror stories every day of children drowned, tazed, shot by officers and wonder if it could be our innocent child next. So yes, everyone needs training, but few seem willing to admit they do.
They always think "I would know" and every day we see proof that they don't. This story had a happy ending, too many others do not. I too have offered to give presentations and have never received even an acknowledgement or a thanks but not thanks response. Egos! It will cost a child their life some day. And first responders will be the first to say, "we just didn't know"!
Ms. Miller, exactly what type of training are you offering police?
Forgot to add- Offered inservice opportunities to Superintendent of Rsbg. School District, to teachers of Glide School district and to local parents, as well and all of it for FREE!
There is nothing like a near tragedy to get people's attention. Perhaps people will want to know more now.
I do not know the details of this escape/elopement/ disappearing, HOWEVER, I have offered my services as a person with 24 years of autism experience/author of 2 books- to inservice the schools (for over 8 years) with no takers. I have offered the local police department RPD inservice regarding autism with no takers. Some tragedy is going to happen soon.
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Sincerely,
Eileen Miller- LOCAL Roseburg Author "The Girl Who Spoke With Pictures" and "Behind the Pictures"
I have websites-will not include them because you might think they are spam.