Today, the last day of April, marks the end of Autism Awareness Month, raising awareness about a condition that is close to our hearts…
There are around 11 million detainees in the world. Autism affects around 1% of the population. So in theory that’s approximately 110,000 autistic people behind bars across the world. However, we know that autistic people are over-represented within some secure environments - for example, one English prison found that 4.5% of its population had an autistic spectrum condition. Outside of work I care for an autistic person so I am more aware of the condition than your average UK doctor, and I take this awareness to my job as a UK prison GP. Most weeks I spot patients who are quite obviously autistic yet who have got to an advanced stage of life without it being formally diagnosed or even recognised as such.
Regardless of exactly how many autistic people are behind bars though, they are some of the most vulnerable detainees. It fills me with sadness that they live in stressful, unsuitable environments. I still remember with horror an incident from the earlier days of my career behind bars, when I attended the death scene of an autistic man. My colleagues and I had tried to help him, but his despair was too much for him to bear. He managed to kill himself despite our best efforts to prevent him from doing so. It was a tragedy.
Whilst the UK’s criminal justice system still struggles to know what to do with autistic people, it is encouraging that a small minority of the UK’s prisons have succeeded in the challenge of achieving accreditation with the Autism Accreditation Service, which is provided by the National Autistic Society (NAS). One of these accredited prisons is HMP Wakefield, a high secure estate; another is YOI Feltham, a notoriously busy young offenders institution. If these particularly challenging secure environments can do it, then surely all other UK detention settings could manage to follow suit.
As a medical organisation with a heart for detainees, we’ve spent April considering how to amplify our autism & disabilities advocacy. We welcome all suggestions. But for starters, we’ve decided to become NAS-accredited ourselves. Why not turn to organisations within your sphere of influence and draw their attention to this fabulous scheme?