Page 74 - SEN115 - November/December 2021

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Lockdowns trigger surge in online disability hate crime
Online disability hate crime soared by more than 50% across England and Wales during 2020/21. This latest police data, gathered by leading disability charities Leonard Cheshire and United Response ahead of Hate Crime Awareness Week, shows a huge spike during a period when much of the population was forced to stay at home during national and regional lockdowns.
Leonard Cheshire and United Response commented:
“The stories we’ve heard suggest many police officers do not have a good understanding of disability. So we’re calling for a specialist disability liaison officer in every police force. We want the government to make disability hate crime easier to report too. We hope the upcoming Home Office Hate Crime Strategy will address just this.
“The government has a role to play in preventing hate crimes altogether. One of the most important steps in tackling hate crime is creating a more accepting society where differences are tolerated. The government’s National Disability Strategy promised a disability awareness raising campaign. That should be an opportunity to educate everyone, including young people and those in school, about disability hate crime.”
Mental Health Symptoms in ASD
A recent study on IQ and Internalising Symptoms in Adolescents with ASD (Monisha Edirisooriya, Dominika Dykiert & Bonnie Auyeung: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders). Has found that self-reported anxiety was significantly higher in youth with a lower IQ, while depression was positively associated with IQ. This demonstrates that mental health can be affected throughout the Autism Spectrum, although its manifestation may vary. Parents, schools and clinicians should be cautious of underestimating anxiety in youth with a lower IQ. However, care should also be taken to ensure adolescents with ASD without intellectual disabilities are not overlooked with regards to social and emotional support.
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