Overview
There is an overrepresentation of neurodivergence, including autism and ADHD, in the criminal justice system (CJS). The interaction between CJS and neurodivergence has been fraught with challenges, with few existing supports to appropriately meet the needs of this population. Generally, mental health professionals have limited training in the forensic assessment and treatment of neurodivergent clients. This can result in misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis, inappropriate treatment, over- or under-estimating risks, and less helpful treatment and sentencing recommendations for Courts. Adopting a neurodiversity-affirming approach will assist in addressing a number of difficulties that arise in the assessment and treatment of autistic and ADHD clients with co-occurring conditions and improve outcomes for this population. This requires a shift in the lens by which we view neurodivergent clients’ presentation, engagement, and intervention goals.
Learning Outcomes
- Improve participants' knowledge, skill and confidence in assessing and treating autistic and/or ADHD clients within forensic settings.
- Provide participants with the opportunity to explore dialectical dilemmas that arise when working with autistic/ADHD clients, gain an understanding of the double empathy problem, and reflect upon their own cognitive biases and attitudes.
- Deepen participants' understanding and appreciation of the strengths and limitations of existing models in working with neurodivergent clients in the forensic context.
- Introduce core concepts for neurodiversity-affirming practice, and explore the utility of these concepts in forensic settings.
- Reflect upon clinical, ethical and legal issues in working with autistic and/or ADHD clients in the forensic setting.
Presenter(s)
Dr Joseph Sakdalan
About the presenter(s)
BSc, MA (CounsPsych), MSc(ForPsych), MPH, MD, PhD (ClinPsych), PGDipNeuroPsych
Dr Sakdalan is a clinical psychologist, counselling psychologist, and clinical neuropsychologist in Australia and New Zealand with over 25 years of clinical experience conducting assessments and treating complex clients with mental health problems, complex trauma, neurodevelopmental and neurocognitive disorders, personality disorders, and offending behaviours in forensic mental health and disability settings. Dr Sakdalan is a Principal Psychologist for Court Reports at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare) and a Lecturer and Clinical Supervisor in Clinical Psychology at the Cairnmillar Institute in Victoria, Australia.
Dr Sakdalan has pioneered the adaptation of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) for clients with intellectual disabilities, sexual and violent offenders, and neurodivergent clients. He has developed a suite of innovative offence-related and offence-specific treatment programs (e.g. sexual offending, family violence, general offending, treatment readiness, substance abuse, violent offending, etc.) implemented in forensic and correctional services locally and internationally. Dr Sakdalan has provided training on utilising a neurodiversity-affirming approach to assessing and treating autistic and ADHD clients with co-occurring conditions in community and forensic settings. He has presented at numerous international conferences and published peer-reviewed journal articles in his specialty areas. Dr Sakdalan is passionate about teaching and mentoring psychologists and other mental health professionals to develop their skills in assessing and treating clients with complex presentations
Notes
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