Aspergers daughter arrested

It did strike me as significant she felt safer in the police station, partly because the police clearly were informed and handled it properly, but more importantly its is quite something that she finds the police station less intimidating than her residential environment.

The caution and involvement with the criminal justice system is most important, and you need to get adequate advise on this. There is some information on the NAS website, but it is tricky.

I'm cautious about this idea that it is easy to resolve by anger management. There are degrees of autistic spectrum impact, and difficult to make comparisons with the experiences of those living independently and someone in residential care. Abler people on the spectrum can make self-assessments with knowledge of their own circumstances.

You mention staff turnover, but not the environment in the residence. What other kinds of people are there - are they all autistic spectrum or a mix of different conditions? Is she enduring unfamiliar behaviours and uncomfortable proximity with other residents. There may be people with other conditions whom the staff give licence to, that involves being overly friendly or intrusive/touching/ pestering. Has she her own room? Does noise travel between rooms?

You mention being interrupted, being hurried, and being touched as triggers. I'd expect this in a residence with communal time. In the daytime staff may well try to keep the residents in one room but may not be watching all the interactions. Frequent changes of staff and lack of training may lead to staff being oblivious of her difficulties.

So I'd endorse cystal12's suggestion of an interagency safeguarding meeting. Something needs to be done to establish whether this residential unit is suitable, in terms of what happens day to day.

She needs a better care provider - an autism specific one which has indepth training as a matter of course.  Her sw shd be contacted for advice on this but you shd also do your own research. There are good agencies out there.   The carers have let her down badly because the agency has not trained them properly.  This created the meltdown which then led to the caution.  Ask if you can have a safeguarding mtg where the various agencies/individuals who support your daughter have to attend to find a way fwd.

Agree with everything RS says, but also does she get any proper exercise? I don't mean a gentle walk to the shops now and again, but a hard cardio workout or very long walk. 

I also have a few anger management issues which (fortunately for others!) are mostly internalised, and exercise helps massively. 

On the basis that D has Aspergers and is therefore not significantly intellectually disabled.

The following is my opinion based a life of undiagnosed asperger's that recently boiled over into meltdowns resulting in a diagnosis. In the aftermath I have gained a lot of realisation about what I can do to make my, previously conflictful, life much more positive.

The meltdowns should not be treated as inevitable. Asperger's is not a disease like epilepsy where brainstorms come out of nowhere.

A meltdown is the final act in a series of events which probably starts with a long period of frustration caused by the basic inability to deal with the world in a way that gets positive outcomes. The last straw may be a fairly innocent incident that finally pushes one over the edge. If you can find a way for her to have a smoother and more rewarding life then she may become a much happier and more fulfilled person.

As an adult, without a significant intellectual disability, she really should be capable of learning how to manage herself and her environment so that the frustration is reduced and the stress and anxieties can be dealt with. The difficulty is in providing her with the means to cope without imposing yet another regime of control on her.