The children we are failing twice: neurodiversity, exploitation, and criminalisation

At ECO, we talk a lot about children being drawn into situations—into harm, into exploitation, into systems that were never designed to protect them. But there is a group of children for whom this risk is not random—it is almost predictable. 

Children with neurodiverse conditions. 

And yet, the system continues to respond as though their involvement is a matter of choice. This is not new. 

The evidence is already there. Recent work led by Clinks highlights that neurodivergent people are over-represented at every stage of the criminal justice system, while at the same time being less well supported and more likely to experience worse outcomes. This should stop us in our tracks because it tells us something fundamental: 

This is not about individual behaviour; this is about system design. 

Children who think, process, and experience the world differently are not simply more “at risk” in abstract terms. They are actively identified and targeted. 

Children who: 

• struggle to interpret social cues 

• are more trusting of others 

• want to belong 

• find it harder to assess risk or foresee consequences 

These are not deficits, they are differences. But in the context of exploitation, those differences are recognised—and used. 

The work of Dr. Clare Allely has consistently highlighted how neurodivergent individuals are more likely to: 

• experience communication differences 

• be more suggestible in interactions with others 

• struggle to navigate complex social and legal situations 

Crucially, her work also shows how these differences are frequently misunderstood within the criminal justice system. 

Behaviours linked to neurodiversity are too often interpreted as: 

• defiance 

• lack of remorse 

• or deliberate non-compliance 

When in reality, they reflect differences in processing, communication, and understanding. 

What should happen when a child is exploited is clear- they should be safeguarded. 

But too often, something else happens. 

The same characteristics that make children easier to manipulate or control are also the characteristics that lead to them being: 

• disbelieved 

• misunderstood 

• seen as complicit 

The Clinks evidence highlights that neurodivergent people in the system often face: 

• unmet needs 

• barriers to communication 

• responses that do not take account of how they understand the world 

So instead of protection, children experience: 

• arrest 

• prosecution 

• criminal records 

They are punished for behaviours that cannot be separated from how they process, respond, and make sense of situations. 

There is another uncomfortable truth. 

Many neurodiverse children are never identified or properly supported. 

Their needs are not recognised in: 

• schools 

• safeguarding systems 

• community responses 

So, when they begin to struggle or become drawn into harmful situations, the narrative is already set. 

They are not seen as children whose needs have gone unmet. 

They are seen as children making bad choices. 

When we see a disproportionate number of neurodiverse children: 

• excluded from education 

• going missing 

• being drawn into exploitation 

• and ending up in the justice system 

We are not looking at a series of individual failings. 

We are looking at a system that: 

• does not recognise difference 

• does not adapt its responses 

• and does not uphold children’s rights 

If we are serious about ending the criminalisation of children, neurodiversity cannot sit on the margins of this conversation. 

It must be central. 

That means: 

1. Earlier recognition of need, so children are supported before harm occurs. 

2. Neuro-informed safeguarding ensuring behaviour is understood as communication, not compliance. 

3. A safeguarding-first response to exploitation. Recognising that children are being acted upon, not acting freely. 

4. Change within the justice system 

So that difference is not misinterpreted as guilt. 

If a system consistently criminalises children who are easier to manipulate, easier to control, and more likely to be misunderstood—it is not neutral, It is doing harm. 

And until we address how systems respond to neurodiversity, we will continue to fail the very children we say we want to protect