Dear Mayor Robert Kennedy of Freeport,
I am a proud member of Autisticana, Long Island’s premier news organization that has delivered authentic news stories from neurodivergent individuals since 2021. We have had many adventures together, from hanging out at our local Barnes & Noble to going on walks in parks and around places on Long Island. In order to have these adventures, we have usually traveled in our van – until now.
Over the past two months, tragedy, like an “Act of God”, has struck our group. In early August, our original white van’s AC unit exploded due to the negligence of an auto technician and completely destroyed our team vehicle as a result. This loss has been to the detriment of our leader, Christine Grimaldi, who loved this van very much over the last four years and found a used model at a rental shop near Freeport just last week. Despite this hopeful development, the prospects of a new van were undercut that same day by Dr. Grimaldi’s replacement Jeep being impounded and towed away due to the general insurance company’s incompetence in not sending paperwork to the DMV. We all showed the Freeport police that it was false information and there was never any insurance lapse as we even had proof from the agent on the phone. The officer was extremely rude and disrespectful and disregarded everything we said, which was speaking the truth, without a hint of empathy or compassion for our plight.
As a result, we were left stranded on the side of the road and were forced to take public transit home as a result. We felt very uncomfortable due to our neurodivergency and being left in crowds and general public and with uncertainty of whether something bad or serious would happen for us. That day was very sad for us and speaks volumes about how when things seem to be looking up for us, something bad comes along to ruin the optimism. Dr. Grimaldi has also been under stress for the last few years due to the deaths of her dog and sister to separate types of cancers and is looking to start over and build our organization in a new way, but has been dealing with financial problems. The last thing we needed was for this to happen and not be heard. It is very important for us to not lose our voice.
Mayor Kennedy, we would like to suggest that you incorporate emotional intelligence training for your officers. Your police department needs to learn about autistic and neurodivergent people and how we suffer from constant isolation and abuse so that this never happens to another autistic teen again. What happened to us on that day as we were left in one of the worst parts of Hempstead caused a lot of emotional distress. If you can govern over the residents of your town with respect and dignity, then surely you can do the same for those who stop by.
Jackson Beach
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