There was also the launch of the Alert Card which will aid those will ASD should they encounter any situations within the criminal justice system.

This conference aimed to:-

Develop an awareness of the issues individuals with ASD face when in contact with the Criminal Justice System and to launch the new card.

We heard an insightful presentation from Rosemary Thompson from the Crown Prosecution Service of England and Wales’. Rosemary gave a perspective from her work with the Crown Prosecution and talked about the projects that are taking place in West Midlands with regards to training and raising awareness with a range of key agencies that may come into contact with individuals with ASD.

Alan Patterson from the Northern Ireland Prison Service shared information on key work within the prison service on a report entitled “Making a difference” for those individuals with learning disabilities and learning difficulties. Alan also welcomed Autism NI onto the steering group which will work with a range of agencies to develop key areas of work such as assessment, screening tools and training.

Bill Lockhart OBE, Chief Executive The Youth Justice Agency conducted a very informative quiz where the audience where asked to answer such questions as to how many individuals who come before the Youth Justice System for example have  speech ,language and communication needs? The audience was surprised to hear that 60% of young people have such needs. He further outlined that early intervention is the most effective way to reduce or prevent offending and that it is essential to give the right level of support when it is most needed. This involves the provision of programmes and specialist therapies, integrated approaches, appropriate screening and awareness raising across the criminal justice sector.

John Campbell from Autism Initiatives gave the audience an excellent insight into personal perspectives from young individuals with Autism. Their perceptions of the criminal justice system helped the audience to understand the very real difficulties that are experienced and inspired both parents and professionals to help towards making the necessary adjustments so that the whole  criminal justice process is much more user friendly for individuals with Autism.

So the work did not end with the conference.  Along with the promotional campaign to let individuals know the card is available, training has been taking place with PSNI Officers on how individuals with Autism may be misunderstood for a variety of reasons.  Lorraine McCurdy, Diversity Training Manager with PSNI is also working towards a training model which can be rolled out across Northern Ireland with a wide range of PSNI staff.

Externally, Autism NI is involved in a Multi-Agency Steering Group commissioned by the Minister of Defence Paul Goggins. This group involves a wide range of agencies both from the statutory and voluntary sector working together to improve the situation for individuals with learning disabilities, specific learning difficulties and Autism in the criminal justice system.  Autism NI are members of both the Training and Information Sharing Sub Groups.

Anyone interested in the Alert card should contact Autism NI on 028 9040 1729