A/AS in US prison system

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I've got to give a talk on the importance of understanding neurodiverse individuals and it has come to my attention that there may be a large population of A/AS people in prison. The group I will be speaking to does prison visitations, so this will underscore the pressing need to learn about A/AS for their work.

I would like any references folks know of regarding the size of the A/AS prison population, the likely reasons they have been incarcerated (drug use, sexual offenses, problems with special interests, etc.), and how their needs can be addressed within the system.

Also, if you have personal experience with prison, I'd like to hear what you care to share. I'm particularly interested in the US prison system.

Thanks!

Hi- your thread caught my eye as I have a family member who has spent 30 years working in Australian prisons, who genuinely helped many. Can't say I'm of any help in terms of figures of those on the spectrum in US prisons, but the following case is one example, and current(posted 10 days ago):

"Autistic Man Languishing in Jail"

Ken McEwan's only home is a cell at the Sarnia jail.

He desperately wants out. His family desperately wants him out.

Yet he's languished behind bars for almost eight months because there's nowhere else for him to go.

McEwan has a mental disorder known as Asperger Syndrome, a severe form of autism that frequently results in angry outbursts and makes social interaction difficult.

Read More: http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1771054

All the best with your work on this.

Generally speaking, this has been proven out to be a myth. I know alot of people who do advocacy in prisoners rights. They almost all tell me the same thing, people with ASD are much more likely to be crime victims than criminals. I don't know where you got your information. I have serious doubts about there being a significant percentage of folks with ASDs in the prison system. I don't know where you got your information, but this used to be an old myth that has since been disproven.

starygrrl, there are undoubtedly people with ASD in the prison system, even if it's only at the same rate as the general population. And I personally can't imagine a more hellish environment for someone on the spectrum. I think it's very important that people who do prison advocacy work become aware of this population and seek to understand its needs and difficulties.

As the US prison population is the largest in the world, even at 1% of the incarcerated population we're talking 73,000 people. And we're not counting juveniles, either.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... html?cat=9

This isn't about proving or believing that A/AS individuals are more or less prone to incarceration than non-A/AS people... it's about recognizing the existence of a significant population whose communication style may be very different from NT communication style and effectively and compassionately engaging and helping them.

Again, I would be interested in information regarding this population, it's experiences with incarceration, and probable reasons for incarceration.

Juliette, thank you for your post. It's helpful to know there are others working on this question, and helping those of us in the prison system, whereever it is. Thank your relative from me...

Prof Eve Johnstone of Edinburgh University is currently involved in an autism prevalence study in Scottish Prisons; originally due to be published in October of last year...

From the New Republic blog

It's probably worth emailing her and explaining - she might be able to give you some authoritative answers...

But you're right, there's at least 73,000 on the Spectrum in prison in the US - some studies have put the proportion at 5-8%.

Some hard searching on Google Scholar will probably eventually bring up the answers.

I doubt that there are more people with Aspergers in jail than NTs (proportionately speaking) but this is really a problem. Having spent time in some form of institution myself, I think that it can be very easy for aspies to become 'institutionalised'. Because of the routines and predictability of prison, and also because it can be very hard to deal with the transition from there to the outside world. I read an autobiography of someone with Aspergers who kept trying to go back to prison as it was the only place they felt safe.

(Any offence caused by this post is unintentional)

I'd never thought of the appeal of the prison routine, but it makes sense in a sad sort of way.

I've got a friend who was a monitor for non-violent juvenile sex offenders and he said all of his wards were on the spectrum and that it was very hard to get them to understand that their behavior was inappropriate.

The level of paranoia in this country about sex offenders is truly frightening... there is no distinction between actual sexual predators and someone who entered into a relationship with someone underage (an 18 year old dating a 15 year old) or someone who indulges in pornography.

Having read some posts from genuinely relationally clueless Aspies on WP, this is very disturbing. Some of the behavior discussed is socially inappropriate and dangerously close to illegal.

And of course, there's that 'just try telling a teenager anything.'

Jeez that article makes him sound ret*d. Doesn't understand why he is behind bars, doesn't realize there are consequences to his actions. Jeez his IQ would have to be that low to not get it. Emotional and mental intelligence are two different things. I think this guy needs help controlling his anger, he has anger issues, even I didn't do this at age seven nor my brothers. My god I have a friend who has emotions and social skills of a four year old and he doesn't act this way. He is very sweet.

Regardless of the percentages, this issue of inmates with disabilites, especially autism, needs to be addressed more. Yes, those that are in jail or prison, probably committed a crime, and yes they should pay for what they did. But, at the same time, I want to be fair about it, and I think the justice system is way behind in terms of giving accomodations to inmates with disabilities.

I agree with you that people bear responsibility for their actions... and I can't imagine what kind of a highly reactive, fractious, twitchy person I might become under conditions of no darkness, no quiet, no solo time... and having to be body searched on a regular basis.

Makes me sweat just thinking about it.

The problem with this, though, is with people with disabilities that are incarcerated, it isn't a clear cut issue with how to handle these individuals. Because, for a person with autism that is in jail, it must be a million times scarier than the NT that's there. And because of the lack of understanding of social norms, staying out of trouble while there might be trickier. The justice system needs to be much more educated on this issue.

Last edited by ottorocketforever on 01 Nov 2009, 7:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I agree. That's why I'm bringing this to the attention my friends who do prison ministry... they lead meditation groups at Pelican Bay and the local jail. It's a beginning... small, but nonetheless.

Seeing as how schizophrenics can't get reliable, decent care in prison, and it's a much better known Dx, we've got a long, long way to go with ASD.

Agreed, and punishments need to be considered carefully.

True. While this has nothing to do with ASD people and prison...it does touch on Schizophrenia and ASD in general; over 40 years ago people with ASD were misdiagnosed as schizophrenics. I think that's because both persons who either suffer from Schizophrenia or ASD do share some of the same symptoms such as synesthesia, et. cetera.

It's still happening...

This is also true, it's still happening. Had I been an adult about 40+ years ago, I probably would've had a good chance at having more than one home; a psychiatric ward in a hospital (I don't know if that even existed then given that there were mental institutions still running at this time), the home that I grew up in with other family members, a mental institution and maybe even a holding cell in jail. Normally I would try to make light at that possibility and say that I'm a mental aristocrat since I would've had more than one home or a mental blueblood, but just no. I can't because chances are that it would be all to real for me. Aside from that, I would've been labeled as a schizophrenic since at that time the definition of Autism was that you couldn't communicate verbally or do anything that most normal persons did. I think I covered the part about my likelihood of me being mislabeled as a schizophrenic in my previous post.

40+ years ago, I would've been a schizophrenic high school dropout, mainly because there was virtually no help for the learning disabled back then if any at all beyond remedial level studies at schools.