Conceptualising social and communication vulnerabilities among detainees in the criminal justice system

•This paper presents a conceptual discussion of autism specttrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental disorders.•The paper includes a discussion of the current genetic underpinning of neurodevelopmental disorders, and the implication of this for disorder conceptualisation.•Emphasis is placed on the implication of our conceptual understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders for the criminal justice system.•The paper also provides an opportunity to reflect on and re-consider how we might best classify neurodevelopmental disorders. More people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are now being identified in the criminal justice system, and in parallel with this increase, the prevalence of ASD in the community has risen more than 150 % in the same time period. In this article, I will argue that this increase is due to a reclassification of those individuals whose social, communicative and behavioural function is at the lower end of the normal range. Put simply, extremes of these quantitative traits are now being conceptualised as ‘disorder’. This has particular relevance for the criminal justice system as such traits are over-represented in this population: as such, it is likely that increasing numbers of people who are incarcerated will receive an ASD diagnosis. This will have major implications for where best, and how best, to manage such individuals using a framework of ‘disorder’ versus ‘difference’.