Policy gaps and opportunities: A systematic review of autism spectrum disorder and criminal justice intersections.

Moya et al. (2022) read 89 papers about autistic people and the criminal justice system. They sorted every study into six stops: police contact, first lock-up, court, jail, prison, and life after release.

The team looked for policy holes at each stop. They wanted to know where autistic people lose help and where new rules could fix things.

Most research sits at police and court stages. Almost none looks at jail, prison, or getting out. Autistic people face more stops than others, but we lack plans to screen or support them.

Biggest gap: no standard way to flag autism inside the system. Without flags, judges and guards miss needs for communication aids, quiet spaces, or shorter interviews.

Lewis et al. (2021) surveyed lawyers and found courts often deny autistic clients simple fixes like written questions or break time. Moya et al. (2022) maps the same court stage and shows these denials are policy holes, not one-off events.

Barton et al. (2019) warns that autistic people give less accurate witness statements under stress. Moya et al. (2022) places this risk at Intercept 3 (court) and calls for special interview rules.

Meimei et al. (2021) report high epilepsy rates in autism. Moya et al. (2022) says jails rarely screen for either condition, creating a health safety gap behind bars.

If you write behavior plans or consult to schools, add justice questions to your intake. Ask if the client has had police contact. Share the six-intercept map with families so they know where supports are missing. Push for autism flags in local court and probation files—one line can trigger needed accommodations and keep kids safer.