Police launch project for better autism awareness

South Wales Police have launched a project to help its officers better understand how to deal with people with autism.

Questionnaires have been sent to people affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to collect their views and experiences, and serving police officers have been asked for their input too.

Autism charities have welcomed the move.

David Malins, who has Asperger's Syndrome, emphasises how useful it is for people to know exactly how to help.

"To know that somebody is there, and whether that's at the flash of an alert card or whether that's just from saying 'look, I need some time and somebody to speak to to resolve this situation'... it goes a long way" he said.

"It leads to empowerment in the end - which is what we're aiming for"

PC Kristian Harris, from South Wales Police, is leading the project.

"What we're hoping to achieve is some sort of training where officers can identify somebody on the spectrum. Quite often somebody will have a meltdown due to some kind of tactile or sensory issues." he said.

"We need to make officers and our frontline staff aware that if they are going to be approaching someone and having a conversation, if they're going to be touching somebody if the need arises, they need to be mindful of any issues that may arise from that."

Lorna Prichard reports on the progress made so far.