When a neurodivergent person — autistic, ADHD, or otherwise — experiences a crisis, the system often misinterprets behaviors as defiance, danger, or disorder. What looks like “non-compliance” to responders may actually be sensory overload, shutdown, or difficulty processing commands. The result can be escalation instead of support.
Common Missteps
Sensory overload ignored: Sirens, lights, shouting, and restraint amplify distress.
Rigid communication: Demands for eye contact, rapid answers, or compliance create misunderstanding.
Bias and stigma: Assumptions that neurodivergence equals violence or incapacity.
One-size-fits-all training: Police and EMS often lack specialized knowledge to distinguish crisis from crime.
Canadian Context
Fatal encounters: Several high-profile cases in Canada involved autistic or mentally disabled individuals misread by police, leading to tragedy.
School-based crises: Neurodivergent youth disproportionately face disciplinary responses instead of care.
Patchwork supports: Some provinces pilot autism-sensitive policing or health programs, but national standards are lacking.
Advocacy voices: Neurodivergent-led organizations call for systemic inclusion in crisis planning.
The Challenges
Diagnostic gaps: Many neurodivergent people lack formal diagnoses, leaving responders without context.
Intersectionality: Neurodivergence plus race, gender, or poverty increases risks of misinterpretation.
Crisis defaulting to police: Health-first approaches are rare; police remain first responders even when not best equipped.
Family fatigue: Caregivers often fear calling for help, knowing the system might worsen the situation.
The Opportunities
Specialized crisis teams: Expand mobile units trained in autism, ADHD, and other neurodivergent conditions.
Peer involvement: Neurodivergent advocates helping design and deliver training.
Community education: Reducing stigma so behaviors are understood, not punished.
The Bigger Picture
Neurodivergent crises reveal a truth about the system: it isn’t built for difference. What’s seen as “non-compliance” is often simply “non-neurotypical.” Without understanding, the system risks harm where help was needed most.
The Question
If community safety is about meeting people where they are, then why do our crisis responses assume everyone will act the same? Which leaves us to ask: how can Canada design crisis interventions that respect neurodivergence instead of criminalizing it?
Neurodivergence in Crisis:When the System Doesn’t Understand You
A Crisis Misread
When a neurodivergent person — autistic, ADHD, or otherwise — experiences a crisis, the system often misinterprets behaviors as defiance, danger, or disorder. What looks like “non-compliance” to responders may actually be sensory overload, shutdown, or difficulty processing commands. The result can be escalation instead of support.
Common Missteps
Canadian Context
The Challenges
The Opportunities
The Bigger Picture
Neurodivergent crises reveal a truth about the system: it isn’t built for difference. What’s seen as “non-compliance” is often simply “non-neurotypical.” Without understanding, the system risks harm where help was needed most.
The Question
If community safety is about meeting people where they are, then why do our crisis responses assume everyone will act the same? Which leaves us to ask:
how can Canada design crisis interventions that respect neurodivergence instead of criminalizing it?