Make Autism Matter

Mental Disabilities and the Criminal Justice System

This week Elizabeth Kelley speaks with guest, Dr. Laurie Sperry. The two talk discuss how to better understand autism spectrum disorder, why so many autistic people enter the criminal justice system, and what we can do to make it fair across the spectrum by making the autism matter.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What autism is, and more importantly, what it is not
• What theory of mind is, and why it is often confused for empathy
• Why it is so important for neurotypicals to understand the characteristics of autism spectrum disorder
• Why people on the spectrum get caught up in the criminal justice system, and what types of offenses they are often charged with
• What can parents do to prevent their autistic child from entering the criminal justice system
• What benefit can be found in parental controls and monitoring software
• How uneven development can be explained and fully understood
• Why cognitive rigidity is valid in a courtroom

Laurie Sperry, Ph.D., BCBA-D, MSc Forensic Psychology, Criminal Investigation

Dr. Laurie Sperry is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst- Doctoral and the Director of Autism Services And Programs in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. She has worked as a developer of the Neurodiverse Student Support Program at Stanford University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. Prior to joining Stanford, she was an Assistant Clinical Faculty at Yale University, Department of Psychiatry.

In 2006 she was added to the Fulbright Scholarship’s Senior Specialist Roster for Autism. She moved to Australia in 2010 and worked at Griffith University in the Department of Arts, Education and Law. Her research focuses on people with ASD who come in contact with the criminal justice system to ensure their humane and just treatment. She has served as a Special Interest Group Chairwoman at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) providing mentoring and leadership in the field of criminality and ASD. She has provided training to secure forensic psychiatric facilities across the globe and presented at the International Conference for Offenders with Disabilities. She has published numerous articles and book chapters and was an expert panelist at the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law conference where she spoke on Risk Assessment, Management and ASD. She has completed ADOS evaluations in prisons, has testified as an expert witness in sentencing hearings, has written amicus curiae briefs and participated in cases that have been considered before state supreme courts.

Website: http://www.asapsperry.com/