Autism spectrum disorder traits among prisoners

Advances in Autism, < a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/toc/aia/2/3" > Volume 2, Issue 3 < /a > , Page 106-117, July 2016. < br/ > Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) traits among prisoners. The authors tested the hypotheses that ASD traits would: be continuously distributed among prisoners; be unrecognised by prison staff; and predict whether a prisoner met diagnostic crit eria for ASD. Design/methodology/approach – ASD traits were measured among 240 prisoners in a male prison in London, UK using the 20-item Autism Quotient (AQ-20). Further diagnostic assessment was carried out using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. Results were compared with ASD data from the 2007 Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. Findings – There were 39 participants with an AQ-20 score=10; indicating significant autistic traits. The distribution of ASD traits among participants appeared to be normal and was not significantly higher than the rate found in a population-based sample from England. Originality/value – Few studies have explored ASD traits among prisoners. The authors identified high levels of unrecognised ASD traits among a group of male prisoners, many of whom went on to meet diagnostic criteria for ASD. The study highlights the need for specialist a ssessment within the criminal justice system for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders including ASD. The authors discuss the process of carryin...

Source: Advances in Autism - July 5, 2016 Category: Child Development Source Type: research