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Girl Scouts receive Bronze Award for autism awareness project

Two local Girl Scouts received the highest honor in junior-level scouting by creating a way to alert law enforcement officers and first responders to the unique needs of people with autism.

Jayde Love, 11, and Emilee Spaw, 12, received the Bronze Award for their autism awareness project at a ceremony Saturday at Bartlesville First Church.

For their award-winning project, they designed special seat belt covers with information inside the cover that alerts officials on the specific behavioral challenges a person with autism may have. Jayde said there is nothing like it in the state of Oklahoma.

On the outside of the cover, the CALM acronym (carefully approach, add visuals, lower your voice and move slowly) lets them know instantly that they are dealing with a person with autism. Visuals could be a favorite toy, teddy bear, fidget spinner or other calming object to play with.

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Girl Scouts (from left) Emilee Spaw and Jayde Love.
Girl Scouts (from left) Emilee Spaw and Jayde Love.

The girls are familiar with the challenges people with autism face. As members of Troop 7197, led by Bernadette Galvez and Emilee's mother, Aranda Spaw, their meetings are held at Paths to Independence (PTI) school which serves students on the autism spectrum. They both also have family members who work at PTI.

"We realized that sometimes first responders and (others) may have trouble understanding what's going on," Emilee said. "(The person with autism) might run away because they get scared or the child may not be able to talk to them because they're nonverbal. So we thought it would be a good idea to come up with this to help first responders."

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The girls consulted with Sgt. Cory Sutton of the University of Oklahoma Police Department for their project. Sutton trains law enforcement officer, first responders and others how to approach people with autism without escalating the situation and plans to integrate the CALM seat belt covers into his classes.

"Without identification, how can an officer know what they're dealing with?" Sutton said. "The seat belt cover lets the officer know that they are dealing with someone who may have a communication difficulty, may be slower to respond, or may have a harder time following commands."

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Girl Scouts receive Bronze Award for autism awareness project