Dispatches look at the UK’s ‘autism scandal’

In a personal and revealing film by award-winning autistic filmmaker Richard Butchins, for the first time, autistic patients trapped within mental health units tell their stories in their own words.

These videos, made secretly by patients and sent to the filmmaker, paint a stark portrait of a healthcare system in crisis. This is the story of many inpatients with autism. Some of them are incarcerated for years in unsuitable wards and hospitals across the UK.

Butchins describes how, in the middle of his own mental health crisis, he chose to stay away from medical professionals for fear of being locked up in a system he’d be unable to break free from.

He meets three autistic inpatients and their families. Each one recounts deeply moving stories about their stay in hospital. One young woman describes how she’s been locked up for most of her life, yet she’s only 25.

Others talk of how their long stretches in hospital have caused their health to significantly deteriorate instead of making them better. They also speak of poor treatment and abuse by staff. ‘People need to speak out and so many voices are silenced,’ observes one young woman, who’s still an inpatient. ‘I feel like that’s my duty to do, not just for myself, but for others because it’s not going to change if… it’s not going to change if it’s not spoken about and we need to be heard.’

Dispatches, tonight at 7.30pm on Channel 4