Aspie Prisons

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To start off, aspies aren't exactly a crime-prone demographic, especially so for violent crime. (Excluding certain situations involving meltdowns or fighting back against unfairness.) Heck, I even once gave myself a title: "the Kindest Child Ever Lived". Far more often, aspies are victims of crime, rather than perpetrators. Reason being most likely a heavy black-and-white thinking in terms of right and wrong, as well as an absolutist view of morality. And since parents teach their kids to be good and kind, aspies take those messages to heart in their literal form, rather than running them through social filters, as NT kids would.

Having said that, aspies aren't incapable of crime. Like that incident with the guy who shot women for rejecting him. Some even said that the Columbine shooters were aspies. Either way, people engaging in criminal actions must be punished fairly. And that often includes prison.

But therein lies the rub. Most American prison will destroy an aspie man, rather than just punish him for his actions. (I wouldn't know about women's prisons, so this thread will focus on men's prisons in the US.) Being in the general population is almost certain death, psychologically, if not physically. Solitary confinement/"the hole" will drive even the most introverted aspie insane. I get it: prison is at least partially about punishment, so it shouldn't be a pleasant place. But it can't be so horrible as to completely destroy an aspie. Most state prisons in the US are run-down and violent. Federal prisons are somewhat better, especially "camps" (minimum security prisons with dorm-like cells and farm-related jobs).

But where is the boundary between "unpleasant" and "trauma"?
Where is the boundary between aspie accommodations and self-indulgent behavior?
How do you keep the violence (if any) in check?
How should cells and shared spaces (day rooms, chow, etc.) be designed?
What kind of food accommodations should inmates get?
Should preferred personal care items be issued or sold only through commissary?
Any other questions you with to add and answer.

As it happens, I'm an aspie AND a correctional officer for New York, so I'll put in my 2 cents.

At least in my state, all inmates are given a mental health assessment during inprocessing. So the inmate with Asperger's or HFA may (not necessarily WILL) be assigned to a facility with a special needs unit. Considering who your fellow inmates would be, I wouldn't recommend it. I also don't recommend committing felonies, so there's that.

As for the other issues, they don't sound aspie specific but more general to prisons. So, which would you rather talk about?

Aspie-specific. To be exact, how those issues would apply to prisons designed for aspies, in terms of both sensory and social. To punish, but not destroy.

If you're referring to Elliot Rodger, it later turned out he wasn't autistic. Something his mom made-up since she was probably biased against saying her own son had a personality-disorder.

I think there's a lot wrong with the American prison system in general. Overall I think it'd be better to change the system in general to benefit everyone (particularly more minor offenses). I think prisons will be better or worse for NTs too, depending on personality, and other factors too. I think it's pretty crazy actually to make "aspie prison" when there are so many non-aspies who are having just as much trouble. I don't know where the idea that everyone who isn't diagnosed with Asperger's is exactly the same came from...but it's false.

I know in the UK that some secure housing for criminals with AS / autism does exist. I think it is run by one of the national organisations.

I hold a view that autism does not remove a person's free will, we make choices regarding what we do on their earth.

yeah they are called forensic secure units/hospitals,people are put in them instead of prisons when people have comitted criminal acts under the influence of their mental disorder though aspie/HFA criminals dont get put in them because theyre aspergan; as aspergers in and of itself doesnt involve a altered mental capacity that legaly needs treating differently to the norm,however there will be aspies in them who have other conditions;usualy severe mental illnesses or severe personality disorders, plus there are quite a few forensic units for criminals with intelectual disability,have had support staff and specialists who have worked in them,they have gyms in them,some have pool tables and other stimulatory activities,they get taken out in the community for activities but overall are a lot more freedom restricting than pysch/PICU wards or intelectual disability A&T secure hospitals.