A police officer gives what seems like a simple command: “Look at me.” The person continues looking toward the ground. The officer tells the person to put their hands down, but the person continues moving them rapidly in front of their body. The officer asks a question and receives no response. Another command is given, yet the person appears slow to react or does not react at all.

From a traditional law-enforcement perspective, these behaviors can quickly begin to look like noncompliance. Avoiding eye contact may appear evasive. Repetitive movements may look suspicious. Walking away may be interpreted as an attempt to flee. Failing to answer questions may seem deliberately uncooperative. Yet there is another possibility that deserves consideration: the person may not be refusing to comply at all. They may be struggling to process what is happening around them. That distinction can completely change the direction of an encounter.

Law-enforcement officers are trained to observe behavior, and that ability is essential to officer safety. Officers routinely evaluate body language, movement, speech, emotional responses, eye contact, positioning, and countless other behavioral cues while making rapid decisions. The challenge is that behavior does not always mean what we think it means. We can observe what a person is doing, but we cannot necessarily determine why they are doing it based solely on what we see.

For a neurodivergent individual, avoiding eye contact may actually make it easier to listen and process spoken information. Repetitive hand movements, rocking, pacing, or other repetitive behaviors may be forms of self-regulation, commonly referred to as stimming. Covering the ears may indicate sensory overload rather than a refusal to listen. Silence may mean the person needs additional time to understand a question and formulate a response. Attempting to move away may represent an effort to escape overwhelming sensory input rather than an attempt to escape police. The behavior is real, but our interpretation of that behavior may be wrong. In public safety, that interpretation matters.

Police encounters can be demanding even for people who are accustomed to interacting with law enforcement. There may be flashing emergency lights, radios, sirens, traffic, crowds, unfamiliar people, physical proximity, multiple officers speaking, rapidly changing circumstances, and significant emotional stress. For someone who has difficulty filtering sensory information, processing spoken language, understanding social cues, regulating emotions, or rapidly shifting attention, an already stressful encounter can quickly become overwhelming.

Consider an officer who says, “Turn around, put your hands behind your back, and tell me your name.” To the officer, that may sound like one straightforward instruction. To a neurodivergent person experiencing significant stress, however, it may represent several separate tasks arriving simultaneously while their brain is already attempting to process flashing lights, radio traffic, voices, movement, fear, confusion, and the physical presence of officers. A delayed response can look like hesitation. Confusion can look like resistance. An attempt at self-regulation can look suspicious. An inability to respond can look like refusal.

This is why one simple concept is so important in neurodiversity-informed policing: compliance requires comprehension. Before assuming that someone is refusing to follow a command, officers should consider whether the person understands the command and whether they are capable of processing and responding to it in that particular moment. This does not mean that officers should ignore dangerous behavior or abandon lawful commands. It simply means recognizing that repeating the same command more loudly may not solve a neurological processing problem.

Although autism is an important part of this conversation, neurodivergence extends far beyond autism. The neurodiversity umbrella commonly includes autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, Tourette syndrome, sensory processing differences, and other neurological or developmental differences that can influence how a person communicates, processes information, regulates emotions, experiences sensory input, moves, or interacts socially. These differences can affect police encounters in ways that may not be immediately obvious to responding officers.

There is also no single appearance of neurodivergence. Two autistic people may respond completely differently to the same situation. One person with ADHD may speak rapidly and continuously, while another may struggle to organize their thoughts under pressure. A person with Tourette syndrome may experience involuntary movements or vocalizations. Someone experiencing sensory overload may cover their ears, rock, pace, repeat words, become unable to speak, or desperately attempt to leave the environment. Neurodivergence cannot reliably be identified simply by looking at someone, which is precisely why awareness of behavior and adaptability in response are so important.

Neurodiversity awareness training is not about turning police officers into clinicians, nor should officers be expected to diagnose someone during a rapidly developing encounter. An officer standing along the side of a highway at two o’clock in the morning does not need to determine whether someone has autism, ADHD, Tourette syndrome, a sensory processing difference, or another neurological condition. What the officer does need is the ability to recognize that the approach being used may not be working and that, when circumstances permit, another approach may produce a safer outcome.

That adjustment can be surprisingly simple. Instead of immediately repeating a command louder, an officer might use fewer words and speak calmly. Instead of issuing several instructions at once, the officer might give one instruction at a time. Instead of demanding eye contact, the officer might recognize that a person can listen without looking directly at them. Instead of stopping harmless repetitive movements, the officer might recognize that those movements are helping the person regulate their nervous system. Instead of interpreting a delayed response as deliberate defiance, the officer might allow several additional seconds for the person to process what has been said.

These may seem like small adjustments, but small adjustments can completely change the direction of an encounter. Law enforcement frequently operates in situations where immediate action is necessary, and when there is an imminent threat to an officer, another person, or the public, officers must respond appropriately. Neurodiversity awareness does not change that responsibility. What it does change is the number of options available when an immediate threat is not present.

When circumstances allow, slowing an encounter down can provide officers with something extremely valuable: information. Taking a few additional moments to observe behavior, listen, reduce unnecessary stimulation, provide additional physical space when safe, use simple and concrete language, ask one question at a time, and allow additional processing time may reveal that what initially appeared to be defiance is something entirely different. If a parent, caregiver, teacher, support professional, or another person familiar with the individual is present, asking what helps that person communicate or regulate may also provide valuable information.

Perhaps most importantly, unusual behavior should not automatically determine the level of threat. Someone who does not make eye contact is not automatically being deceptive. Someone who does not immediately answer a question is not automatically being disrespectful. Someone who rocks, paces, flaps their hands, repeats words, or makes unusual sounds is not automatically becoming aggressive. Someone who struggles to follow a command is not automatically choosing to resist it. Sometimes the person standing in front of the officer simply experiences and processes the world differently.

Recognizing that possibility does not compromise officer safety. In many circumstances, it can enhance it. Misinterpreting neurological behavior as intentional defiance can create unnecessary escalation, while recognizing that the behavior may have another explanation gives the officer additional options. The purpose of neurodiversity awareness is not to excuse dangerous behavior or prevent officers from taking necessary enforcement action. It is to provide officers with more information upon which to base their decisions.

When officers understand that neurological differences can affect communication, sensory processing, emotional regulation, movement, and behavior, they gain additional tools for interpreting what they are seeing. More tools mean more options, and more options can lead to encounters involving less confusion, less confrontation, and potentially less force. That benefits everyone involved. It protects neurodivergent individuals, protects officers, reduces organizational risk, strengthens community trust, and contributes to safer interactions.

Public safety professionals will never be able to predict every behavior they encounter, and officers cannot be expected to recognize every neurological condition. What we can do is become better at recognizing when something may be different. Instead of immediately asking, “Why won’t this person comply?” we can consider another question: “Is there something preventing this person from understanding or responding the way I expect?”

That change in perspective may provide the few additional seconds necessary to observe more carefully, communicate differently, reduce stimulation, or choose another approach. Sometimes what looks like defiance is not defiance at all. Sometimes it is communication. Sometimes it is sensory overload. Sometimes it is self-regulation. Sometimes it is delayed processing. Sometimes it is simply a person whose brain processes the world differently than ours.

The goal is not to lower expectations for safety or lawful behavior. The goal is to improve our ability to recognize what we are seeing before deciding what it means. When public safety professionals understand that different behavior may require a different response, we create opportunities for safer encounters, better communication, and stronger relationships between law enforcement and the communities we serve.

Understanding builds trust…improves response…and saves lives.

- SCOUT

Spectrum Command's

Public Safety Ambassador