Search | Browse by Day | Presenter Index

Emergency Experts Advocate For Autism Safety In The Community: The Safe and Sound Initiative (#6620)


Thursday, July 11, 2013: 11:00 AM-12:15 PM
305 (David L. Lawrence Convention Center)

Fire, police and emergency hospital staff touched by autism are the most ideally suited to provide information and professionally train colleagues how to interact with and assist individuals with autism in times of an emergency. Listen to experts detail this important service for the improved safety of individuals with autism, their families and professionals in your community. This vital community service is part of the Autism Society’s Safe & Sound™ initiative, a program created in 2005 which provides resources to communities about general safety, emergency prevention and preparedness. Intro:

15 min Jimmy Donohoe

15 min Bill Cannata

15 min John McGonigle

30 min Q & A

Presenters:

Jimmy Donohoe
Police Officer
Sargent Jimmy Donohoe is the creator of the Take Me Home program, a database where participants who are unable to properly identify themselves register with a photo, physical description and contact information so first responders can interact with increased knowledge when contact with a person with autism occurs.

William Cannata Jr.
Program Director Autism and Law Enforcement Education Coalition
Captain William Cannata, Jr., Retired, has been a member of the fire service for more than 30 years, and is the Program Director of the Autism and Law Enforcement Education Coalition formed in 2003. He is also the parent of a child with an autism spectrum disorder.

John J. McGonigle, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Rehabilitation Science and Technology
University of Pittsburgh
Dr. John McGonigle has over 35 years of clinical experience in working with children, adolescence and adults with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities. He is the Director of the Western Region Autism Center (ASERT) in the Center for Autism and Developmental Disorders at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh. Dr. McGonigle currently holds the rank of Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine.

<< Previous Session | Next Session >>