Mr. Schwait,

is there any program or mechanism to train lawyers and judges to effectively communicate or meaningfully deal with adults on the autism spectrum, so to ensure these people receive due process of law whether in tort, contract or civil rights settings? I am sure you agree this is a critical issue which must be addressed in order to meet TFB's goal of attaining "equal access to and availability of legal services" as mentioned in the letter I received from you this morning.

I have first-hand knowledge of what it is to live with an autistic adult, especially in terms of what it is like to experience an "autism meltdown" when autistics and/or their caretakers attempt to seek remedy and redress in the legal system, and are met with attorneys and judges who have no autism awareness training.

In a USDCNDF case where my autistic wife sought UM coverage to pay for medically diagnosed brain injury my wife suffered in an automobile accident,  US Magistrate Judge Gary Jones made an intitial factual finding my autistic wife was a licensed attorney and even invited me to commit the felony crime of filing pro hac vice motions to enable her to practice law in USDCNDF, with zero factual foundation to support his finding my wife was a lawyer. This single instance which is commonly referred to among the autism community as an "autistic meltdown" resulted in my autistic wife biting her arms, crying and screaming non-stop for 12+ hours, w/ conditions I can only describe as a prolonged uncontrollable seizure.    

In another instance, a licensed FL attorney, Ms. Gina Smith who had first-hand knowledge of my wife's untreated brain injury, autism and propensity to experience severe autism meltdowns, sent Mary and myself a US District Court confer communication regarding Ms. Smith's intent to file a judicial notice motion regarding Florida DHSMV records, which both Mary and I understood as an attempt by Ms. Smith to trigger revocation of our FL drivers licenses based on our respective disabilities. As described above, this confer proffered by Ms. Smith resulted in my autistic wife experiencing another "autistic meltdown" no less severe than described above.  

Such fact patterns as described above can only be avoided when attorneys and judges alike, attain autism awareness, so to enlighten lawyers and judges the orders and legal pleadings they file can have horrible, life threatening effects on persons with autism. 

Given your position w/ TFB, with your stated goal to "attain equal access to and availability of legal services," it is extremely important for you to realize the present autism epidemic has in fact resulted in many autism caretakers to do unthinkable things because they simply cannot help their autism family members to attain due process of law when seeking to attain autism accommodations or medical treatment. 

For example my wife's former caretaker-mother poured gasoline on herself and self-immolated in front of my wife (which according to her suicide note and related letters, she was no longer able help her daughter attain autism disability accommodations with courts and lawyers). 

For over a decade, I have had an extremely difficult time providing caretaking duties to my autistic wife which I am ordered to do by Pinellas County Circuit Judge Jack St Arnold, not because my wife "suffers" from autism" but because she "suffers" from what others with no autism awareness training say and do to her whenever she seeks legal redress in courts.  

I look forward to your prompt reply to ensure my wife and my other disabled clients attain due process of law by lawyers and judges with actual training in autism and disability awareness, because at this present time, anything I do or say on my wife's behalf or any disabled client in a courtroom setting, is alwaysinterpreted as "shotgun pleading," "without merit," "vexatious," "sanctionable" etc., by judges and lawyers who lack autism training and awareness, to the extent my law license to practice law is in jeopardy.  
David F. Petrano, Esq.
Hawthorne Legal Services
11502 SE US Hwy 301
Hawthorne, FL 32640-7720
Phone (727) 808-0446