Officials from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety are working to train first responders on how to better interact with people on the autism spectrum.
D.P.S. recently completed three HEART sessions in the eastern part of North Carolina, and are planning to do more. HEART stands for Helping Enhance Autism Response Training.
Chief Deputy Secretary for Administration Casandra Hoekstra said last week's sessions were well attended, and now they want to do trainings for the western part of the state.
"We are hoping to conduct those trainings in April, which is Autism Awareness Month, probably the first or second week of April, and we're looking to be in Buncombe County area, maybe even as far west as, say, the Cherokee reservation," she said.
Hoekstra said part of their autism response training initiative is to connect with Native American tribes in the state.