A new study on how U.S. defense attorneys think about autism and use strategies informed by neurodiversity in their work finds that attorneys saw autism through a medical lens and acknowledged the need for better ways to secure accommodations for their clients in court.

Conducted by Colleen M. Berryessa, associate professor at the Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice, and Carolina R. Caliman, a PhD candidate at the Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice, the study included interviews of 31 defense attorneys from jurisdictions across the United States to understand how they perceived autism in the context of criminal defense and legal representation, as well as how they understood autistic clients, their involvement in the legal system, and their role as advocates.

Published in the Journal of Social Issues, the study highlights the urgent need for structural changes in legal education, courtroom accommodations, and legal procedures that account for the diverse ways autistic individuals navigate the legal system, say the authors.

“Autistic individuals encounter distinct barriers within the criminal-legal system, such as misinterpretations of their behaviors, a lack of accommodations, and systemic biases,” explained Berryessa. “In what we believe is the first investigation of how U.S. defense attorneys’ implicit cognitive processes may shape their views and legal strategies when representing autistic clients, our study emphasizes the challenges autistic defendants face, and the advocacy role defense attorneys play in representing and assisting autistic clients in navigating the legal process.”