Children with disability at risk of victimisation
(NOT JUST CHILDREN, WHAT ABOUT NEURODIVERSE ADULTS TOO?)
WHAT ABOUT THE BASIC HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS IN PROTECTING NEURODIVERSE
INDIVIDUALS, BOTH CHILDREN AND ADULTS, FROM INHUMANE AND DEGRADING
TREATMENTS AND DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION AND ABUSE?
IS THIS PROTECTION COVERED WITHIN THE U.N CONVENTION DISABILITY TREATY?
See links:- http://www.sundayherald.com/39346
or http://www.autisticsociety.org/article245.html
Fears over Anti-social Behaviour Bill
By Elizabeth McMeekin
CHILDREN who suffer from conditions such as autism or attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) could be wrongly caught up in the criminal
justice system as a result of the Scottish Executive's Anti-social Behaviour
Bill.
Both the National Autistic Society (NAS) Scotland and the ADHD campaign
group, the Overload Network, have expressed their concerns over the loose
definition of the term "anti-social behaviour" in the bill, arguing that it
would adversely affect the 12,000 children in Scotland who suffer from
either of these conditions.
If passed, the bill, which is currently being reviewed by the communities
committee and the justice 2 committee of the Scottish parliament, would
introduce anti-social behaviour orders and tagging for under-16s. It would
also give police the power to remove groups of youngsters hanging about on
street corners.
According to the proposed law, anti-social behaviour is anything that is
likely to result in the alarm or distress of a third party, but the
campaigners warn that certain repetitive or unusual behaviour by children
with autism or ADHD could be misinterpreted to mean exactly this.
NAS Scotland's national co-ordinator, Robert McKay, believes there is
already a lack of autism awareness in the Children's Panel system and that
passing this bill would only exacerbate the situation.
"We already have examples from families who have been inappropriately dealt
with in terms of the Children's Panel," he said. "And there are huge flaws
in the system - panel members often do not have enough training and
reporters rarely know anything about disorders such as autism."
According to officials at NAS, there are approximately 8000 children in
Scotland who are affected by autism , many of whom have behavioural problems
as a result of the disorder.
Indeed, McKay knows of one child who has developed an obsession with videos
and often sneaks into neighbours' homes to borrow theirs. Although the child
does not understand the implications of acting in this way, under the bill
such actions could trigger an anti-social behaviour order.
But despite the obvious problems spelt out early on in the consultation
process by NAS Scotland, McKay believes the Executive has no intention of
backing down and changing the definition.
"I think it's probably a done deal," he said. "The definition we want
changed is the definition used in the matching law in England and they want
to keep it that way as it gives them a certain amount of latitude.
"We talked with the members of the bill team when it was being drafted and
they said then that the definition wouldn't change. Even then we said to
them 'Well, what's the point of having a consultation then?'"
Janice Hill, of the Overload Network support group, is also disappointed by
the Executive's response to her concerns.
"We made contact with people, saying we were quite prepared to make a
presentation, and they said 'no thank you'," she explained. "But we are
very, very concerned about the bill and its consequences for children with
ADHD.
"It seems as though they are just rushing through this legislation and not
thinking about what it might mean for these children. They are not even the
type of kids who would respond to such actions as many of them would not
understand why that was happening to them.
"With tagging, I can see some of them trying to physically cut it off if
they could. Trying to explain to them why they had a tag on just wouldn't
work with these kids."
While Hill acknowledges that there is a problem with anti-social behaviour,
she does not believe the introduction of a catch-all law, that could
potentially affect the 4000 or so children in Scotland known to have ADHD,
is the answer.
"What we need is more police on the streets," she added. "The children also
need something to occupy them.
"Very few of them have anything to do once they are out of school and that
is why we have all these problems."
Responding to the criticisms, a spokesman for the Executive stressed that
there was a section in the bill which was designed to ensure it respected
equal opportunities.
"There will be detailed guidance for practitioners in the bill," he said.
"The guidance will include things like the points raised by the National
Autistic Society last week. This bill is part of a wider Executive strategy
which is about early intervention, not about getting more kids in the
Children's Panel system."
Meanwhile, the Scottish Law Commission (SLC) has said it is unlikely that it
will be involved with the bill at any stage. Although the SLC is often
consulted when new bills are drafted, the commission's secretary, Jane
McLeod, did not believe this would be the case with the anti-social
behaviour legislation.
"If there is an area of law that is politically driven then there is less
chance we would become involved," she explained.
It is also the SLC's role to make sure that laws are working properly once a
bill is enacted, but again McLeod did not think that the commission would be
asked by the Scottish Executive to undertake this task.
"I suspect the balance here would mean that we would not be asked to get
involved," McLeod added. "This is probably more on the policy side so the
chances of this matter coming our way would be pretty slight."
18 January 2004
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