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carrieq

Ability of Child with ASD to Act as a Witness???

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Hi,

To cut a very long and painful story short my son dx with Aspergers has given a police statement and is now cited as a witness to appear in court. He will be giving evidence via CCTV. He coped well with giving his statement and is happy to go to court to act as a witness. The problem is the defendant is trying to stop this happening and has requested that my son be subjected to psychological testing with a view to determining whether or not he is capable of being a reliable witness. At the moment no reason has been given as to why he is being singled out as being unable to be able to undertake the role of witness and I am inclined to thin it is because he is an easy target to dismiss because of hie dx.

 

Does anyone have any info or know where I can easliy and quickly lay my hands on info on children with ASD giving evidence. I am going to contact NAS on Monday but am interested to hear if anyone has any info or experience of this.

 

Thanks

Carrie

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It never got as far as court when JP was robbed (they never caught the *******) but the police were impressed with his recall of the incident & his description of what the guy was wearing etc. Where he struggled was with identifying e-fits. Its the first time I realised he had some degree of face-blindness. He chose two completely different looking blokes - but they both had bushy eyebrows. I could virtually see the scepticism on the policeman's face, & though I tried to explain, I don't think he really understood.

 

I suppose it depends on what exactly your son is giving evidence about - as the example above shows, some things can be recalled in minute detail (due to JP's aspie focussing on details) other aspects he struggled with (due to face blindness).

 

I think they are on sticky ground trying to exclude him based on his AS - if they succeeded it would be open season on anyone with AS, as they would be deemed unfit to appear in court if a crime was committed against them, & therefore denied access to justice.

 

Sorry I've no 'official' information, just personal experience, & I hope your lad goes on ok >:D<<'>

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Sounds like your son is a witness for the prosecution. In this case, it is their job to decide whether he can be a useful witness and take any necessary steps. There is not really anything that you as a parent can do to persuade them.

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When my son was mugged he was summoned as a witness too, he was terrified but went ahead with turning up etc. Luckily he didnt have to go through with it in the end as the boys admitted to it once they knew he was in the building and willing to testify.

 

It sounds to me as though they are trying to scare him/you/the prosecution to withdraw his statement, or at least try and cast doubt onto it. I would simply ignore them and plough on.

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Thank you all. DS is giving evidence with regards an assault carried out on him and his sister by his father. HIs big sister is also a witness but has, as yet, not been asked to undergo testing. It is the defence that has requested the testing but is unwilling to inform the Fiscal of the reasons as to why so I am looking at the main difference between him and his sister being ds diagnosis which is a very dangerous move on the part of the defence. The trial was due to take place this month but as a result of this will be moved to a new date. This will be the fourth time the date has moved as a result of the defence requesting something or claimiing they need more time. Ds is fine about being a witness but is having a bit of trouble with the fact the dates keep moving with no concrete reason as to why. It is a very difficult time for all of us.

Carrie

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