Photo: James Rojas/WBZ NewsRadio
DRACUT, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Dracut Police Department has started bringing a new sensory kit on patrol, designed to assist with communication for special-needs individuals, and it's all thanks to a New Hampshire high schooler.
Mayra Gillis, 16, has epilepsy, and she has a twin brother with autism. Over time, Gillis noticed how difficult it can be to communicate with people on the spectrum, especially law enforcement.
In 2024, Gillis teamed up with her mother to create sensory kits for law enforcement around New England, following an experience she had with a paramedic who handed her a teddy bear after an epileptic seizure.
Photo: James Rojas/WBZ NewsRadio
The kit consists of a clear backpack, stuffed with things like noise-cancelling headphones, plush toys, stress balls, and other items to help those with autism get comfortable. Gillis and her mother stopped by the Dracut Fire Department on Tuesday to drop off several sensory kits to Dracut Police and Fire.
“We have these communication cards, where they can point to how they feel, and we can point to what we’re asking them, ‘What’s your name?’ ‘Do you have an ID card?’ Things like that,” said Dracut Police Chief Peter Bartlett.
Gillis has presented these kits to 40 different first responder agencies, according to Bartlett.
“It’s really going to be helpful for the officers communicating with folks who have disabilities," he said.
The Gillis family funds the kits through an Amazon wish list and a book written by Mayra, ‘Adventures of Mymy & Sparks: Cloudpeak School for Dragonlings.’ A link to the Amazon wish list can be found here, and a link to Mayra’s book can be found here.
WBZ NewsRadio’s James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports.