Neurodivergent individuals are overrepresented in the criminal justice system (CJS), with evidence suggesting that at least half of the adult prison population can be expected to have needs arising from neurodivergence.
Ensuring neurodivergent people in prison are supported with appropriate adaptations is critical for engagement with rehabilitative opportunities within prison. To improve support for neurodivergent people in prison, HMPPS introduced the Neurodiversity Support Manager (NSM) role.
NSMs are responsible for implementing a whole-prison approach to neurodiversity. They provide training and guidance to prison staff to equip them to better support neurodivergent individuals, improve processes to identify and support prisoners’ neurodivergent needs and ensure reasonable adjustments are made throughout the prison to help develop a more ‘neurodiversity supportive environment’.
This paper presents seven case studies, provided by NSMs, to illustrate the breadth of support the role provides across the prison service and demonstrate how NSMs are improving the support neurodivergent people in prison receive throughout their time in custody.
