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COVID-19 Message

I hope everyone is safe and healthy during this COVID-19 quarantine. Staying busy can help us all get through this tough time.

Below and attached in a brief video poster are short updates on where I’ve been and where I’m going with my Autism, Policing & Public Safety Training mission.

Stay Safe!

Dennis Debbaudt

In the 1980’s, I reported for and provided research to hard-hitting documentaries and investigative print reports for media outlets including the Detroit News Sunday Magazine, Monthly Detroit Magazine, Granada TV World In Action, Thames TV, WMAQ-TV, CTV W-5, Holocaust Survivors and Friends in Pursuit of Justice, B’nai B’rith Canada and Simon Weisenthal Center. Since 1993, I’ve used the same approach to autism as my earlier investigative reporting: research, interview sources of information, research again, verify and report the facts.

I’ve had the opportunity and honor to interview hundreds of autistic adults and hundreds more parents of children who have autism. I’ve had the privilege to present and share information with over 100,000 law enforcement, public safety and criminal justice professionals at well over a 1,000 engagements throughout the world. The feedback and advice has guided my work for over twenty-five years. The collective wisdom is reflected in every word, idea and image in my current presentations.

My reporting identifies and provides advice on safe, effective management of the highest risk autism related contacts for policing and public safety professionals. Every session is presented in the jargon-free language of everyday life. With audiovisuals that drive home autism safety messaging to audiences, every presentation is illustrated through the experienced editing hands, eyes and ears of Emmy Award winning videographer/editor, Dave Legacy.

I recently presented an Autism, Policing & Public Safety Super Briefing on April 2nd, World Autism Acceptance Day for a North Carolina statewide audience using WEBEX meeting software.

Let’s create a virtual conversation or event!

I’m now connecting through phone, email, cell phone texting, WEBEX, FaceTime, Skype and Zoom.

Take Care!

Dennis Debbaudt
ddpi@flash.net
(772) 398-9756
debbaudtlegacy.com

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Coming Out Asperger Diagnosis, Disclosure and Self-Confidence

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Coming Out Asperger
Autism & Disclosure To Law Enforcement

Jessica Kingsley Publishers Paperback, ISBN: 978-1-84310-240-3
2005, 280 pages, $19.95 + S&H
Edited by Dinah Murray
Purchase Coming Out Asperger Diagnosis, Disclosure and Self-Confidence

Coming Out Asperger explores the complexity of diagnosis for Asperger Syndrome, the drawbacks and benefits of disclosing a diagnosis of a “hidden disability,” and how this impinges on self-esteem. The contributors include some of the best-known and most exciting writers in the field of Asperger Syndrome (AS) today, and include individuals on the autism spectrum, parents and professionals. The broad range of the chapters, which draw on anecdotal, professional and research-based evidence, make this book a comprehensive and highly original consideration of the implications of an AS diagnosis.

The ever-difficult question of who to tell and when once a diagnosis has been confirmed is discussed in great depth. Liane Holliday Willey and Stephen Shore examine the dynamics of disclosure, its risks and the possible effect on self-confidence. Jacqui Jackson looks at how a diagnosis impacts upon family life. Tony Attwood provides a clinician’s view of diagnosing adults, and Lynne Moxon, Wendy Lawson, Dora Georgiou and Jane Meyerding discuss adult issues surrounding disclosure, including how to deal with relationships and sexuality, and disclosure in the workplace, as well as social and disability issues.

A unique and fascinating insight into the important issue of diagnosis disclosure, this book is an essential guide for people with AS, parents, teachers, professionals and all those who have ever felt confused about revealing a personal issue.

Dennis Debbaudt wrote the chapter Disclosing to the Authorities.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column]
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Asperger Syndrome in Adolescence Living with the Ups, the Downs, and Things in Between

Asperger Syndrome in AdolescencePaperback, ISBN # 1-84310-742-2
2003, 336 pages, $19.95 + S&H
Edited by Liane Holliday Willey
Forward by Luke Jackson
Purchase Asperger Syndrome in Adolescence

Childhood and adult experiences of individuals with Asperger Syndrome (AS) are becoming increasingly well documented, yet the crucial formative teenage years have, so far, been neglected. Adolescence is a difficult time for any teenager, but when you have Asperger Syndrome this already emotionally complex time of life becomes all the more challenging. This book aims to make the transition from child to adult as smooth as possible, and is an essential survival guide to adolescence.

Dennis Debbaudt wrote the Safety chapter for this book.

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Embracing Autism: Connecting and Communicating with Children in the Autism Spectrum

995867 cover.inddJossey-Bass Hardcover, ISBN: 978-0-7879-9586-7
March 2008, 208 pages, $24.95 + S&H
Edited by Robert Parish
Purchase Embracing Autism: Connecting and Communicating with Children in the Autism Spectrum

“The voices here confirm what I’ve always suspected: everyone is part of one large continuum, and the approaches and insights recounted here can help any parent, any educator, any person deal with any child—or, for that matter, any other person—more effectively and with more compassion. I only wish I’d encountered earlier this cadre of experienced and caring individuals whose humor and resourcefulness represent clearly how best to love and nurture a child.”—Cynthia Nitz Ris, J.D., Ph.D., University of Cincinnati

Through sensitive, sometimes humorous, experienced-based writing from teachers, clinicians, and parent activists in the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) community, this book will help educators and others to better understand the world inhabited by ASD children. The stories contained in the book will inspire and inform readers who are working day-to-day with children in the autism spectrum, providing valuable insights into what makes these kids tick and useful information on how they communicate, learn, and succeed.

Robert Parish (Cincinnati, OH) is an award-winning journalist with four nationally broadcast public TV documentaries about Autism Spectrum Disorders to his credit, as well as more than 100 digital video projects about ASD for the educational market.

Dennis and Gay Debbaudt wrote the chapter North of the Border.

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Autism, Advocates, and Law Enforcement Professionals Recognizing and Reducing Risk Situations for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism Advocates and Law Enforcement ProfessionalsJessica Kingsley Publishers, ISBN: 978-1-85302-980-6
2001, 144 pages, $19.95 + S&H
By Dennis Debbaudt
Purchase Autism, Advocates, and Law Enforcement Professionals

Individuals with developmental disorders are seven times more likely than other people to come into contact with police and their responses to encounters with the law may not always be socially appropriate. How can the needs and responses of people with autism spectrum disorders be reconciled with the duties of the police to serve and protect the community? In this book, private investigator and autism advocate Dennis Debbaudt provides essential information for both groups. He explains how typical manifestations of autism spectrum disorders, such as running away, unsteadiness, impulsive behavior or failure to respond, may be misunderstood by law enforcement professionals, with serious consequences. For individuals with ASDs, he offers advice on how to behave in encounters with police and other law enforcement professionals. Aimed at raising awareness and facilitating communication between people with autism and law enforcement professionals, this much-needed book will be a valuable resource for both communities.