"No understanding of autism on Mental Health Unit"

I was admitted onto the Beaumont Ward in October 2022 and was subject to mistreatment by staff who had no idea about my needs. If I acted out of character they assumed I did so deliberately and frequently made incorrect assumptions about my character based on my moods. They rushed to judge me without taking the time to understand me as a suicidal depressed autistic person with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD). 

I got attacked by a guy with disabilities who they refused to move despite making threats to end me. They offered no support at any time when I was self harming. No one engaged with me to properly plan my treatment, they just rely on throwing meds at you. That doesn’t work when you have complex needs.

They talk about capacity but no one on this ward has the experience to gauge and as my psychiatrist said my above average intelligence will limit the help I receive as they’ll think I’m less vulnerable. My autism diagnosis at one stage was considered Asperger’s but as I have all the hallmarks of regular autism it was changed. I’m the anomaly as I’m just as autistic but my intelligence means I’m different.

My psychiatrist says I won’t ever be able to take full responsibility for my actions yet the Ward came down on me like a ton of bricks if I kicked off. They like using the word capacity a lot but none have autism experience or training. So it means very little.

Their lack of understanding over my needs and behaviour drove me over the edge many times including absconding several times and suicide attempts. I wanted understanding but was subjected to what felt like psychological torture because they are completely unsuitable as a unit to deal with autistic people on every level. I’ve had friends who were on the unit who were left more broken just like me by the poor standard of care.

Staff would frequently be rude or ignorant towards me and if I spoke up they would pull the alarm assuming I’m kicking off. I have reacted numerous times to rudeness, yes, with rudeness but I have impulsivity issues. It’s more poor training and understanding by the staff.

The Ward matron had no interaction with their patients and was very poor in handling the patient that assaulted me several times and seemed more interested in keeping them on the ward than safeguarding me. They lied to me several times and never gave me any sort of plan to keep me safe from attacks despite duty managers telling me they were supposed to. When I asked the matron, they said they didn’t have to listen to them.

I was sectioned shortly after they attempted to discharge me to the Willows (without treating me I might add). This was following a forced absconsion of the unit and a suicide attempt. It’s sad it came to that because no one was listening. This happened in December and was a result of a member of staff saying to me on the Monday you’re going to Willows on Wednesday if you like it or not. They didn’t care that I don’t cope well with change. They knew I get extremely stressed over it.

For months until Feb 2023 I had no treatment on the Ward at all beyond being moved to a section 3. The LPT trust organised a care treatment review for people with autism and learning difficulties(I have comprehension and processing problems) and recommended my psychology support be resumed. This CTR thing was a hassle as staff harassed me into signing the forms and were constantly at my door despite me saying I didn’t understand it. I never refused it but wrote underneath that I don’t understand and was forced to sign the papers as staff wouldn’t leave me alone. This had the Ward matron accusing me of trying to sabotage it despite me saying I don’t understand. They wouldn’t accept that after people trying to explain I didn’t get it. 

Another staff member days later sat with me and kindly went through it all with the right attitude and made it clearer to process for me so I re signed the papers and it happened shortly after.

I made some good friends on this ward though staff seemingly think if people hug they must be dating. That isn’t true as at no point did I have any interest in dating anyone. If anything as I’ve spent my whole life alone prior to admission I’ve never had any friends and struggled socially on the Ward at times. Staff were well aware of this though it was difficult because if I said the wrong thing to someone they’d think intent was there when it wasn’t. I’m just clumsy socially.

It just upsets me that I was judged so badly by poorly trained staff who don’t understand autism at all. I was always kind to people and tried my best to be uplifting to others, though with other mental health issues on the Ward it sometimes didn’t work and was taken the wrong way. The staff should have  engaged with me and helped me work on things socially but never did.

I feel as though the lack of autism awareness and training adversely affected my care from staff. They make judgments without foundation and jump to conclusions without having the expertise to back what they say up. They rely on box ticking observations by staff with little to no training (including nurse students) to reach their poorly thought out conclusions. 

I was forcefully held down early March 2023 by multiple staff who accused me of trying to record a conversation (I didn’t).  They held me down in a way which I felt was not justified.  They should be ashamed. This unit does not deal well with autistic people and subjects them to poor treatment.