Beth is not just a statistic, she is not just a patient. She is my 21 year old daughter who has been in psychiatric hospital for 2 years and 9 month.
Why? I hear you ask?
The hospital are not arranging meetings with the whole team involved including Beth, her family, The Autism Team, her social worker, her care co ordinator, SALT, the psychiatrist, the managers and nursing staff.
Also because she ligatures as a form of communication and goes into fight or flight, she has attacked staff, she is deemed not safe and being 'complex'
For almost 3 years this has been the case and won't improve whilst she is in the wrong environment which does not meet her needs and is often triggering due to bright lights, loud noises, over medicated, enabled by staff to keep her happy and to not challenge her in fear of challenging behaviours.
Where is the right place?
This is the unknown answer as Beth and her family have not been told what options are available to make an informed choice.
The right place would need to be therapeutic and have Autism Awareness and trauma informed care. It would need to allow Beth to have some control over her life and make her feel empowered. It would need to be able to keep her safe and provide support with life skills.
There is an Autistic community called Botton Village community. It would be wonderful to have more of these communities in every town and city because Autistic lives do matter.
Autistic people working within their little community, Autistic people not having to fit in a neurotypical world. Just imagine ❤️
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