Sensory Kits Help Niles Police Safely Reunite Autistic Man

NILES, ILLINOIS – A nonverbal 25-year-old man had walked more than 6 miles from a group home in Chicago when Niles police officer Jessica Zia found him pacing along the side of the road in late June, according to CBS News Chicago. Zia went to her trunk for a newly issued sensory kit, and the tools inside helped her calm the man and get him safely back to his caregivers.

The kit came from the Autism Hero Project, a nonprofit operating in Illinois and Florida that has placed one in every squad car at the Niles Police Department. The department had received the kits only 20 days before Zia used one on the street for the first time, according to Niles police social worker Tony Bertram.

An Hour on the Roadside

Zia was on patrol when a call came in for a suspicious person walking on the side of the road. The man was pacing back and forth and looked confused, she told CBS. When her questions went unanswered, she realized he was nonverbal, and she knew the call would be different than most.

That is when she opened the kit. Inside are toys, sensory items, and small objects that give an officer a way to communicate when words are not an option. She sat with the man for about an hour on a hot day. Her goal, she said, was to get him home.

“My job is to help.” – Jessica Zia, Officer, Niles Police Department (2026)

The man was taken to a hospital for observation and released, according to CBS. Days earlier, another Niles officer had handled a similar call. Bertram told CBS that Zia figured out the man was nonverbal and overstimulated, then pulled the right tools from the bag with almost no training.

Illinois law already requires all law enforcement officers to complete training on interacting with people on the autism spectrum, per the CBS report. Niles took the requirement a step further by equipping every squad car.

The Nonprofit Behind the Kits

The Autism Hero Project is a 501(c)(3) built on a simple vision: to prepare kids with autism for the world and prepare the world for them. Its president, Tamika Lechée Morales, told CBS that many families in the autism community were fearful of contacting law enforcement when a situation came up with their child. The kits are meant to change that while reducing stress and improving the odds of a safer outcome.

The risk is real. Morales said drowning and traffic-related incidents are among the leading causes of fatal outcomes for autistic individuals who elope or wander.

According to the organization’s website, the Autism Hero Project has distributed over 700 sensory kits to law enforcement and trained over 1,400 first responders and civilians in autism awareness. Its work also reaches the clinical side of the field. The group has awarded over $350,000 in medical insurance grants so that autistic children can access therapies, including ABA, and it funds education scholarships that help autistic teens and adults build skills for employment.

The organization’s website cites figures showing 1 in 31 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with autism, and about 1 in 5 autistic individuals will interact with law enforcement by the time they reach adulthood. The group also says it helped drive two public policies, Autism Acceptance Week and the Blue Envelope Program.

Training Is Now Illinois Law

The Autism Hero Project ties the statewide training requirement to the passage of SB3201, and it is running in-person sessions to help departments meet it, according to its website. The Schaumburg Police Department is hosting the group’s Bridging the Gap autism-informed training this summer, with sessions on July 8 and August 5, 2026. The organization says the August session is nearly full.

The nonprofit will also present two sessions at the 2026 Illinois Homicide Investigators Association conference in Itasca on October 15, focused on practical strategies for autism-informed investigations.

AT A GLANCE

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