For decades eyewitness identification was considered the gold standard when it came to evidence used to gain a conviction.
In the famous courtroom drama â12 Angry Men,â rated by the American Bar Association as one of the 25 greatest legal movies of all time, juror No. 8, played by Henry Fonda, earnestly advocated for a not-guilty verdict.
Fonda started out as the only not-guilty vote. The turning point of the deliberations occurred when an older juror recalled that the stateâs prized eyewitness, who had observed the murder through her window as she laid in bed, had red marks on her nose left from wearing eyeglasses. The older juror asked a reserved bespectacled juror, âDo you wear your glasses when you go to bed?â The bespectacled juror responded, âNo, I donât. No one wears eyeglasses to bed.â
Autistic individuals may be wrongly perceived as deceptive and lacking credibility news-medical.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news-medical.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Autistic adults can be wrongly perceived as deceptive and lacking credibility, Flinders University researchers say, with this working against many caught in the legal system.
Ahead of World Autism Awareness Day (2 April 2021), a new paper in the
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders asked 1,410 civilians to respond to video recordings with 30 adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and 29 non-ASD individuals to examine whether stereotypical behaviors associated with autism influenced people s perceptions of the individual.
Common behaviors include gaze aversion, repetitive body movements, literal interpretations of figurative language and poor reciprocity.
Co-author Flinders Professor Robyn Young, author of Crime and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Myths and Mechanisms (2015) with Emeritus Professor Neil Brewer, says it s unfortunate that many of the behaviors that are believed to be portrayed by people who are being deceptive, often erroneously, are also comm
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Identification of autism, followed by appropriate intervention, has the potential to improve outcomes for autistic individuals – but Flinders University experts say that presently not enough qualified people can diagnose.
Professor Robyn Young, a specialist autism researcher at Flinders University, says insufficient time and money lay at the root of the problem.
“I doubt that thorough testing is seen as financially viable. To undertake a thorough assessment, you really need at least 3 hours – and for adults who may have trauma or comorbidities, it is even harder,” says Professor Young.
“NDIS is putting restrictions on from whom they will accept diagnoses, and in some incidences, even though psychologists have undertaken approved diagnostic training through Autism SA, they are asking for the diagnosis to be endorsed by a clinical psychologist – of whom there are shortages with expertise in this field.
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