Autism in Prisons
According to the Chief Inspector of Prisons, around fifty percent of people in prison have a neurodiverse condition. And, around nine percent of incarcerated individuals are on the autism spectrum. That may seem like a small number, but it actually accounts for over 100,000 individuals nationwide. ASD rates inside correctional facilities are roughly twice that of the general population. You would think that, with such a large proportion of the prison population having some sort of neurodevelopmental disorder, there would be many resources to provide support to them. However, prison – while already not a fun place to be – is even worse for the neurodiverse.
People with disabilities are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, and they rarely receive the proper care that they need. People on the autism spectrum already face challenges in social settings and with authority figures, so these obstacles are only exacerbated in the prison setting. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is supposed to prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications, and state or local government programs and services. Therefore, the ADA applies to all state prisons and local jails. However, the ADA does not adequately protect incarcerated individuals with disabilities. Despite advocates documenting the cruel treatment and conditions faced by those with disabilities, little has changed.
Embrace Autism, an autism research organization, has researched several factors that make prison that much more awful for autistic people. Autistic people are convenient targets for bullying, manipulation, and sexual abuse by other inmates and guards. People with ASD sometimes struggle to register nonverbal communication like facial expressions, which makes navigation prison even more dangerous. Furthermore, people with autism can have sensory-processing issues that cause stimuli like the routine opening and shutting of doors to induce anxiety.
Matthew Rushin, an autistic individual, shared his story about his struggles in the justice system even before entering prison. After hitting two cars and attempting to flee the scene, he was sentenced to fifty years behind bars. Police subjected him to intense questioning and coerced him into pleading guilty without an advocate present. Many times, autistic individuals are taken advantage of and manipulated in this way, causing such a vast amount to enter correctional facilities. Thankfully for Rushin, the judge waived 40 years of his sentence and was ultimately pardoned, though others are not that lucky.
According to Glynis Murphy, a clinical psychologist at the University of Kent in England, "People with autism don’t get unwritten rules”. Many autistic individuals find it difficult to recognize the unspoken code of conduct. Andrew Beasley, an autistic inmate, fell victim to this problem at the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix in New Jersey. Beasley recounted many incidents in which he did not act accordingly with the prison norms. He once stood on a small rug outside the medical office that the guards considered “off-limits”, a rule that the other inmates knew but that Beasley had not picked up on. He was also unaware that it was not acceptable to betray or snitch on the other inmates, and Beasley did exactly that when he reported a drug dealer. Thankfully, he was transferred somewhere else before anybody could retaliate.
Unfortunately, Beasley did not always escape beatings. In October of 2015, Beasley left his MP3 player on a charging station in the facility’s computer room then came back to find that it was gone. He believed he knew who had taken it, and went to confront him amidst his feelings of worry and stress. The accused man became furious with Beasley and punched him 14 times in the ribs. Autistic people are more likely to become the target of bullies or get involved in fights because they’re seen as reactive or gullible. After Beasley was attacked again, he was placed in “the hole”, a 6 by 8 foot cell with two other inmates. Beasley slept on a razor-thin mattress on the floor, his head two feet away from the shared toilet. Beasley recounts, “I’d be up at night staring at the brick walls. It was really disturbing, psychologically”. Most prisons lack the proper mental health care for autistic inmates. It is often difficult to recruit qualified mental health professionals to work in prison and retain those who do, leading to staff shortages. The US Federal Bureau of Prisons mandates that federal prisons employ one psychologist for every 500 inmates, but prison psychologists tend to have a much higher load because prisons are overcrowded and understaffed. Due to this inherent issue, many inmates with autism go undiagnosed, and the diagnosed ones fail to receive proper attention and care.
On many occasions, prison staff were ignorant of Beasley’s needs as an autistic individual. Beasley received disciplinary write-ups for being unable to submit urine samples for drug tests. He had “shy bladder”, a condition that made him too anxious to use the bathroom when others were nearby. Instead of giving Beasley the option to urinate in private, prison officials punished him by pushing his release date back 45 days and docking his prison job pay.
Beasley’s case isn’t an anomaly. Drew Harrison, a former autistic inmate in a facility in Virginia, struggled with sensory overload in prison. To dim the fluorescent lights, he covered the bulbs with toothpaste or paper. To mask overwhelming odors, he wrapped his uniform around his head. Many fail to recognize a prominent characteristic of autism: hypersensitivity, or heightened senses. That being said, the opposite also exists. Many autistic individuals also possess hyposensitivity, or diminished senses.
Autistic inmates like Beasley and Harrison continue to struggle in prison environments. Prisons do not fulfill the promise that the ADA makes of equal access to programs and services in correctional facilities. One reason for this may be that many states don’t adequately identify prisoners with developmental disorders. The Marshall Project sent 50 questions to all 50 state corrections departments asking whether and how they screen for developmental or intellectual disabilities. Of the 38 agencies that responded, 25 reported using screening protocols that don’t meet professional standards according to mental and legal health experts.
According to Susan Politt, a supervising attorney at Disability Rights, an advocacy agency in North Carolina, “It mirrors or echoes what goes on in society. People with disabilities are often hidden and not seen”. In reality, prisons aren’t the only place that autistic people face discrimination. In all environments, including the society in which they should be free, autistic people are targeted and face cruel treatment. Prisons are only a more extreme example of the enduring issue.
