Judge Kim Taylor:A Judge's Journey with Autism
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What inspired Judge Kim Taylor to advocate for autism awareness?
Can you tell us how you came to help autistic people when they came in front of you during your sessions at court?
How did Judge Taylor's personal experiences shape her judicial career?
Well, I was elected district court judge in Alexander, Davia, Davidson counties in 1986. At that time, I had one child who did not have autism. In 1987, my second child was born. His name is Garrett and he was born in April of 87. We hadn't heard much about what autism was at that point. So we're just trying to find resources and try to figure out what help he needed and how he was going to be as he grew older. We did the hearing test, neurological test and such, and eventually an organization called TEACH, it's T-E-A-C-C-H, which is part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, did testing and told us that he had autism. And of course, this is around age three. So at that point, we tried to get some school resources in place.
There weren't any resources in Alexander County, North Carolina at the time. But I have a sister-in-law who was director of exceptional children's programs, and she was able to get some things in place. Now, of course, we have a lot more people on the spectrum, and they have classrooms for people with autism. As he grew older, he became eventually self-injurious. Around the age of 11, he started hitting himself, hurting himself a lot. I would be called from the bench, and you got to come get him from school. He'd hit himself, and, you know, it was just pretty terrible. I continued on the bench. I can't recall if I was in Superior District. I think I was a Superior Court judge at the time.
What happened to Sidney Templeton and why is it significant?
My husband was working as a deputy sheriff in Iredell County and told me after his work shift that he believed someone with autism had died in police custody.
Wow, that's pretty serious. What'd you find out?
We were very concerned, upset about it, and we got the details of what happened. His name was Sidney Templeton. He was in his early 20s and had a caregiver in Statesville, North Carolina. And apparently he had a meltdown with the caregiver because They thought because his medication had been changed or something had happened in his environment that caused him to have a meltdown. She called 911.
What initiatives has Judge Taylor implemented for law enforcement training?
Officers went out, didn't understand. She told them, we believe at the scene, she told them that he was autistic and couldn't speak, but they didn't know what autism was. They thought, in fact, somebody told us that they thought she said autistic. We thought then, well, we've got to do something to educate our responders, law enforcement, people that might run into our kids and not know what's going on with them. So we were able to get a task force together involving law enforcement. We had people from the Autism Society. We had district attorneys. We had a broad range of people, really. that were willing to work with us, and we were able to get a joint task force with the North Carolina legislature, who we met periodically, you know, and had presentations from various interested parties, and were able to develop some plans and some changes that we could make.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What inspired Judge Kim Taylor to advocate for autism awareness?
1:31–1:39
2
How did Judge Taylor's personal experiences shape her judicial career?
1:39–3:05
3
What happened to Sidney Templeton and why is it significant?
3:05–3:42
4
What initiatives has Judge Taylor implemented for law enforcement training?
3:42–7:53
5
How are autism resources improving for individuals and families?
7:53–10:19
6
What is the importance of national legislation for autism training?
10:19–15:44
7
How can the legal system better support individuals with autism?
15:44–16:57
8
What changes have occurred in the treatment of autism over the years?
16:57–26:17
Speakers
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Dr Aaron Meyer and Ann Marie Council part 2: Breaking the Cycle: Why Serious Mental Illness Deserves Better Than Jail or the Streets
Lois Brady: Publishing Autism Digest and Exploring Real Stories and Experiences