Dear Compass Readers,
Imagine driving home after a long day.
You see flashing lights in your rearview mirror. You pull over, and suddenly you are being asked questions and given instructions while trying to process everything happening around you.
Now imagine there is something important the officer needs to understand about you, but in that moment, you cannot communicate it in a way that is understood.
That is part of what happened to Charlie Hatch, a young autistic man in Hendersonville, Tennessee, on October 29, 2024. During a traffic stop, behaviors associated with the way Charlie communicates and responds under stress were interpreted as possible signs of impairment. When asked if he had a medical condition, Charlie said no. His family later explained that he did not think of being autistic as having a medical problem he needed to disclose.
Charlie was arrested for DUI and spent hours in jail. Later, testing showed no alcohol or drugs in his system, and the charge was dismissed.
As a mother of a young man, who sometimes has difficulty expressing his thoughts during stressful situations, I can only imagine that phone call. The fear. The questions. And the feeling of knowing that one piece of information, if communicated and understood differently, might have changed the course of that evening.
Charlie’s story stayed with me because it raises a question that applies to so many of us:
What would someone need to know about you if, in an unexpected moment, you could not explain it yourself?
That question is one reason I chose preparedness as the focus of this issue of The Compass.
Preparedness is often associated with storms, evacuation kits and emergency supplies. Those things are important. But sometimes preparedness is much closer to everyday life.
What happens if your phone dies when you need your emergency information? If transportation suddenly changes? If you cannot access a prescription? If the internet is unavailable? If someone who normally assists you cannot be reached? Or if you simply find yourself in a situation where another person does not understand how you communicate or what you need?
That is why preparedness is personal.
It may be an emergency contact saved in more than one place.
It may be a written medication list.
It may be a backup charger.
It may be information about how you communicate best.
It may be making sure someone else knows who to call on your behalf.
But preparedness should never rest solely on the shoulders of people with disabilities or their families. It is a shared community responsibility. First responders, service providers, employers, educators, neighbors, businesses, and community organizations all have a role in creating environments where people are understood, supported, and treated with patience and respect. Sometimes preparedness looks like having a plan. Other times, it looks like slowing down, listening differently, recognizing that someone may communicate or respond in an unexpected way, and choosing compassion before assumption.
And it does not all have to happen today.
One step counts.
Write down one contact. Update one piece of information. Charge one device. Ask one question. Have one conversation you have been putting off.
Then take another step when you are ready.
That is also how we hope you will approach this issue of The Compass.
Don’t just read it. Use it.
Click the links. Save resources to your phone. Share information with someone you trust. Make notes about what applies to you. Come back to this issue when you need it.
And remember that Tennessee Disability Pathfinder is here to help you locate disability-related services and organizations throughout the state. Sometimes being prepared begins simply with knowing where to turn.
We cannot control every unexpected moment. But we can take steps now that may make those moments easier to navigate.
So as you move through this issue, begin with one question:
What would I want someone to know about me if I could not tell them myself?
Start there.