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hearing voices

Hotel california

On the BBC news this morning they were showing footage of a homeless man being video recorded by the police.  In the footage the police officer asked the man if he was hearing voices, standard question they seem to use to identify mental health, which somewhat mystifies me.

Anyway I started to think what would my son's say if they got distressed in a public place.  Both have aspergers and I think  they would say "yes I do hear voices in my head"  but not realise the implication.  Their answer would be based on the fact that their auditory processing takes place inside their head so naturally they hear voices otherwise they would be deaf.

Has NAS ever done any work with the police to address this with the police, as aspies could find themselves sectioned erroneously.

  • www.theguardian.com/.../police-restraint-autistic-boy

    Although the judge ordered the Metropolitan Police to undergo training in autism, they refused to budge until the end of last year, when some treaining sessions were enforced. Even so I doubt many officers on trhe beat have a clue.

    There has been some training outside London, but many police forces know absolutely nothing about autism.

    Read down the report on the above link (or search "trauma of autistic boy shackled by police" if it doesn't come up) - the denials and dissembling by the Met and the repeated reprimands and instruuctions testify to how totally neanderthal is most of the higher management of police forces.

    It is a shocking indictment of this country's indifference to vulnerable young people.

  • Not familiar with the swimming pool incident, can you fill me in.

    I had not considered the sensory overload issues which would affect my son's.  It is indeed an area of concern that needs addressing.

  • Long term incarceration in Mental Hospitals was replaced by Care in the Community. The idea dates back to 1959, but the process mostly went on in the 70s. People with mental health conditions were believed to be better supported by contact with the wider community rather than isolation, and some mental health conditions were identified with a social cause.

    Mental Hospitals were seen as cruel places, more like prisons (which was true enough) but the driving force was really that Care in the Community was cheaper (isn't that just what the Big Society is really all about?). The Mental Health Act 1983 and community care act 1990 led to phasing out of mental hospitals.

    All that seems fair enough, but what we also got was more people with mental health conditions falling through the net. You could leave a care in the community hostel or housing centre voluntarily. But also people were discharged for very inadequate reasons.

    The result is we have inordinate numbers of homeless people with mental health conditions. They are checked where there are opportunities, and they do have access to services, but it really is a national disgrace that so many people with mental health conditions end up living rough.

    So I suspect the police were genuinely checking for schizophrenia perhaps this person manifesting problems that drew attention to a concern. Whether quite the same might arise for someone with autism is an interesting question.

    There are also large numbers on the autistic spectrum sleeping rough. A few surveys carried out have come up with figures like two out of three persistent rough sleepers have autism, or autistic traits. Because they have social difficulties they are less likely to take up other options like hostels.

    There is a risk that someone on the spectrum who is not homeless could be picked up by the police, and that is one way that people on the spectrum can get caught up in the legal system. The various card systems that explain people's needs are hoped to get round this, but frankly do police have a clue. We've seen the Met Police mess up badly with a boy at a swimming pool because they clearly haven't a clue.

    The police are one of the groups supposed to receive training. I do worry how effective this will be. My biggest fear is with sensory overload - police will crowd someone they are apprehensive about, force physical contact, shout and confuse. Doesn't take much imagination to see the risks.

    As a so-called civilised country why do we make such an utter mess of supporting vulnerable people?