LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The first and only court in the country to focus on children living with autism is in Clark County.
FOX5 was able to get a rare look inside the Detention Alternative for Autistic Youth Court, also known as DAAY court.
It was founded by Judge Soonhee (Sunny) Bailey, who keeps a wide variety of candy, snacks, and toys inside her courtroom to give out.
“It works with basic reinforcement, you see behavior that you like, you want to reinforce it,” she said.
Bailey tells FOX5 she noticed youth were coming into her courtroom for battery charges, such as domestic violence on parents or siblings, or were acting violently in school. DAAY Court is a diversion program that allows youth in the juvenile justice system to be tested for autism if they are not already diagnosed. They often go through programs that fall under applied behavioral analysis, also known as ABA.
“It’s really behavior modification where we shape behaviors through positive reinforcement,” Bailey said.
The court, founded in 2018, has a personal meaning for Bailey. She spoke to FOX5 about the parents in her courtroom who often worry.
“I see the desperation. I see the frustration. I see that they are scared,” Bailey said.
It is feelings that resonate with the judge, as she too disclosed she has a daughter on the spectrum.
“When she turned three, she became extremely violent,” she said.
Bailey said her daughter was the reason her family moved to Nevada to get into an ABA program.
“My daughter went from 250 aggressive episodes per day and now down to age 27 one every six or seven months,” Bailey said. “We are proof that ABA works, and you can live a completely different life.”
Even though it’s the youth in trouble with the law that is standing in front of Judge Bailey, she also holds parents accountable to follow through on program requirements.
This is the only kind of court in the entire nation. Judge Bailey said she often gets calls from other judges across the country for guidance as well.
The Clark County District Attorney’s office also works hand-in-hand with the program and often drops charges if the juvenile in the program meets all the requirements and puts in work to graduate from the program successfully.
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