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Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects approximately 1% of the general population. The prevalence of ASD, or symptom complexes compatible with ASD, amongst young people residing within Secure Children's Homes (SCH's) remains ill understood. There are critical implications for the resourcing and understanding of the management of young people with social/communication difficulties. This paper describes a preliminary investigation of the prevalence of ASD within SCH's in the UK. The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) was completed with support workers for 113 adolescents admitted to two SCH's in England as a screen for ASD. The SCQ identified 15 (13.3%) young people with symptoms compatible with an ASD presentation; differences in gender, legal status and a history of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) are discussed.

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects approximately 1% of the general population. The prevalence of ASD, or symptom complexes compatible with ASD, amongst young people residing within Secure Children's Homes (SCH's) remains ill understood. There are critical implications for the resourcing and understanding of the management of young people with social/communication difficulties. This paper describes a preliminary investigation of the prevalence of ASD within SCH's in the UK. The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) was completed with support workers for 113 adolescents admitted to two SCH's in England as a screen for ASD. The SCQ identified 15 (13.3%) young people with symptoms compatible with an ASD presentation; differences in gender, legal status and a history of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) are discussed., Author(s): P. J. Kennedy [sup.1] , Philip Sinfield [sup.1] , Lucy Tweedlie [sup.1] , Carol Nixon [sup.1] , Aisling Martin [sup.1] , Katie Edwards [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) grid.451089.1, The [...]