“He didn’t break the law. He just needed help. Now he’s locked in a hospital hundreds of miles away.” — Alun, father of a detained 19-year-old

IN SECURE hospitals across England and Wales, more than 2,000 people with autism or learning disabilities remain locked away under mental health laws — despite never committing a crime.

Many are detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, often after being taken by police during a mental health crisis. The vast majority have no mental illness diagnosis. Some are teenagers. A few have been there for decades.

“It’s a human rights scandal,” said Dan Scorer of Mencap. “They’re being institutionalised because society hasn’t built the support they need.”

Autism is not a mental illness. It is widely recognised that for most autistic people, care in an inpatient unit is rarely helpful – in fact, it can be deeply damaging. 

The average length of stay is around 4.6 years.

The overwhelming majority (92%) of autistic people and people with a learning disability who are detained in hospitals are put there using the Mental Health Act of 1983.

A NEED FOR URGENT REFORM

For years, the National Autistic Society and tens of thousands of campaigners have called for changes to mental health law.

Reform has been promised, and a bill is making its way through Parliament. However, the government will not commit to funding the reforms the legislation will enact. Even then, campaigners say the law change will not end the scandal of detention.

In April, Denise Cavanagh from Hook, a founder of the Stolen Lives campaign, told BBC Wales that she believed people would still be detained via other laws, including the Mental Capacity Act.

She added: “People with learning disabilities often end up in hospitals because there’s a breakdown in housing and community care, and it’s the only place they can go.

“So, if that community care isn’t there, there is nowhere for them to go and they’ll still be detained.”

And even though health is devolved to Wales, the Welsh Government is relying on a Westminster bill to improve how people with learning disabilities and autism are supported during a crisis.

“THEY CAME WITH HANDCUFFS”

Michelle, from Wiltshire, recounts the day her autistic daughter was detained after a meltdown in a supermarket.

“She was 23. She was overwhelmed. She panicked. That’s all. But the police came and took her away. That was three years ago. She hasn’t been home since.”

Michelle’s story is one of many. Some families describe wards where patients are sedated, isolated, and cut off from loved ones.

Bethany – whose surname cannot be published – was locked in a hospital room in Northampton as a teenager. Her only access to the outside world was through a tiny hatch in the door.

Her father, Jeremy, said he could only see his daughter through a plastic screen or through the six-inch hatch.

“It was cruel. It was torture for my daughter,” he said.

“It broke her human rights, her right to family life, her right to freedom from degrading treatment.”

Even now, several years on from Jeremy’s interview on Radio Four regarding Bethany’s treatment, little has changed. In fact, the data shows a worrying trend towards increased detention of those with mental illness or specific learning difficulties.

NO WAY OUT

Official NHS data reveals the extent of the crisis:

Over 52,000 people were detained under the Mental Health Act in April 2024 — the highest figure in five years.

Over 2,000 of those are autistic or have a learning disability.

As of May 2025, 2,025 autistic people and people with a learning disability are in mental health hospitals in England. Of these, 1,455 (72%) are autistic.
There are 240 under-18s in inpatient units who are autistic or have a learning disability. Of these, 230 (96%) are autistic.
The number of autistic people without a learning disability detained in mental health hospitals has increased by 141% since 2015.
This is the most up-to-date record of how many autistic people and people with a learning disability are currently in mental health hospitals in England.
Despite some progress moving people with a learning disability out of hospitals and into the community, the number of autistic people detained has increased. In 2015, autistic people made up 38% of the total number in hospitals, now it is 72%.

Around 60% of learning disability or autism inpatients have no mental illness diagnosis.

Detained patients are often placed in “out-of-area” units, sometimes hundreds of miles from home.

Toni Dymond, an autistic woman, was detained for over 20 years in psychiatric care without a criminal charge.

“She was isolated, broken,” said her brother in a statement. “It wasn’t treatment. It was abandonment.”

34,685 people were detained by police under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act in 2022–23.

Over 60% were transported in police vehicles, not ambulances.

Autistic woman and author of the memoir Unbroken, Alexis Quinn, spent three years “locked inside” various mental health hospitals, including Assessment and Treatment Units (ATU).

She says: “I  was detained under the Mental Health Act and remained so for most of my stay. The Mental Health Act is a piece of legislation which provides a legal framework to detain people when they are mentally ill and require treatment to get better. The interesting thing about a treatment order for an autistic person is that autism is not a mental health condition.

“Whilst mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety, can be treated, for autistic people, this has to be done in a way that reflects their needs and understands autism.

“When I was detained under the Mental Health Act, I felt like this was because of behaviour relating to my autism, not because I was mentally ill; the whole process lacked any understanding of the difference between autism and mental illness.”

CHANGE PROMISED, BUT NO MONEY ON THE TABLE

The Mental Health Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, will stop people with a learning disability and autistic people from being detained for treatment. However, the government have said that this change to the law will not be enforced until there is sufficient community support. That means the law will not come into effect until there are enough resources to support its operation. There is no commitment to provide that funding.

The Challenging Behaviour Foundation, a national charity, wants a clear plan, co-produced with people with lived experience, families, and those working within the different parts of the system, setting out what steps will be taken to develop this support and accompanied by the resources to make it happen.

The National Autistic Society says: “We are calling on the government to urgently publish a comprehensive and fully-costed plan for how it intends to build this support.” 

So far, that call has been met with silence.