LINKED

The Town of Windham, Willimantic Fire Department and Willimantic Police Department is excited to announce a new and innovative program and partnership with Linked- Autism Safety Project.

LINKED is a national program that was created by an Autism mom, Ashley McClain to build a relationship between emergency responders and the members of the Autism and special needs community. This project was created as a collaborative effort with a network of public safety professionals, autism professionals and autism parents. 

This program is a voluntary registration for the Willimantic Fire Department and Willimantic Police Department official Special Needs Alert System. Caregivers of the Town of Windham autism and special needs community can access the registration form from the Town of Windham website, Willimantic Fire Department and Willimantic Police Department website – www.windhamct.gov or by stopping into the departments to fill out a hardcopy of the registration form. 

This information will provide first responders with important individualized information about the person with autism and within the special needs community. This will allow the responder to create a pre-arrival plan to best assist those within the community. All registrations are secure and confidential and used only for the response of Willimantic Fire Department and Willimantic Police Department first responders.

Each family that registers for the LINKED program will receive an Emergency Planning Packet with individualized instructions and a guide that includes tips and tools to navigate this program and an emergency. Additionally, the Emergency Planning Packets provide an emergency preparedness social story, created by professionals, which is a personalized learning tool containing text and illustration that supports the safe and meaningful exchange of information between parents, professionals, and people within the special needs community of all ages. 

First responder will be equipped with a sensory pack in every emergency vehicle which contains a variety of sensory products provided by recommended by professionals in the field. To accompany the sensory packs, LINKED- Autism Safety Project is providing Emergency Picture Exchange Communication System, which is a picture communication tool for non-verbal residents developed by professionals to assist in the dialogue between the child and emergency responders. 

The Willimantic Fire Department and Willimantic Police Department is committed to the Autism and special needs community and developing best practices and increasing the quality of services to all our residents. Willimantic Fire Department and Willimantic Police Department will also participate in Autism specific training through LINKED- Autism Safety Program to better understand and support the needs of the Autism community. 

The Windham Volunteer Fire Departments are also starting the process to become certified with the hope that all Town 1st responders will be equipped with the tools they need to interact with all town residents. 

This program is free and open to all Windham/Willimantic residents. 

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