'Autistic People Need Help In Dealing With Police'

An advocacy group, Autism Hong Kong, marked World Autism Day on Tuesday by urging law enforcement authorities to ensure they have trained professionals on hand when dealing with cases involving people with special needs.

The group’s founder, Francis Yu, said special needs people often struggle to communicate, especially in unfamiliar situations such as when they have to talk to police officers or in court.

"People with autism are suffering from a lot of social and communication deficit. That would put them into a disadvantaged position during police enquiry and also the court hearing procedures,” he said.

Yu said having a trained professional at police stations would help. He also said officers should automatically provide a duty lawyer in cases involving special needs people, to make sure they are made aware of their legal rights.

He also urged the Correctional Services Department should consider ways to make life in prison more suitable for special needs prisoners, saying often, a normal prison isn't necessarily the most appropriate place for them:

He said the department can take reference from some foreign countries where special needs people who've committed crimes are placed in special, 'therapeutic institutions'.

Or, he said authorities can make life a little bit easier by making small changes in how they interact with autistic prisoners. Yu said that, for example, instead of shouting out orders, guards can use visual cues to help them better understand what they want.