Unlike physical conditions, neurodevelopmental disorders could take a lifetime to notice and diagnose. We speak with Sharon Beattie, who has a vast amount of experience in psychology. Below, she discusses how neurodevelopment disorders tie into employment law and family law, as well as what type of expert courts ought to seek.
What are common cases you are instructed on as an expert witness, regarding autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and cognitive functioning conditions?
I am generally instructed on cases that are assessing neurodevelopmental and neurodiversity difficulties, particularly in employment tribunal cases and family court situations. These two areas reflect my background experience in policing, child protection and safeguarding as working as a Psychologist. Employment cases generally involve the assessment of those individuals whose behaviour in the workplace reflects inconsistencies between what is expected of them and their performance. In family cases, these are generally child protection cases which may require psychologists to evaluate parents’ functional capacities to meet all of the needs of their child(ren) throughout the period of being younger than the legal age of adulthood. Public and private family proceedings tend to have differing perspectives, but given my expertise I am generally asked to comment upon an individual's capacity for change within the child’s timeframe and asked to evaluate single or multiple issues, but I generally focus on those cases that require an assessment of neuro-developmental conditions (e.g. ASD).
What do you mean by neurodevelopment conditions?
Neurodevelopmental disorders are characterised by developmental deficits that usually show up early in a child’s development, many times before the child enters primary school and can run throughout the individual’s lifetime. These brain function deficits can affect a person’s emotions, memory, ability to learn, socialise and maintain self-control. They can be limited in nature, for instance to learning, or the deficits can be global and affect intelligence or social skills overall.
The category of neurodevelopmental disorders, includes: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD), communication disorders, intellectual developmental disorder, motor disorders, and specific learning disorders. It’s not unusual for these disorders to co-exist.
While there are no known cures for neurodevelopmental disorders, medication and therapy treatments do exist that can help a child or adult. At the neurodevelopment clinic, our goal is to help children, adults and their families learn about neurodevelopmental disorders and to offer them support in managing their or their child’s neurodevelopmental disorder symptoms. We have in-depth, trusted, up-to-date information on the diagnosis, causes and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders in children and adults.
Why is important to understand for family court cases?
Many people with neurodevelopment disorders aren’t diagnosed (if at all) until they are adults. Individuals with a neurodevelopmental disorder have their own personalities and life experiences, and it affects people in different ways.
Raising a psychologically healthy child involves complex emotional interaction between parents and offspring. Parenting also requires the ability to avoid behaviours that might be damaging to a child's well-being. Individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD, who may eventually have children of their own, may face particular challenges in satisfying these demands due to their difficulties in understanding and relating to others on an emotional level. Their skills as parents may also be hampered by other ASD-typical characteristics, such as need for routine and hypersensitivity to certain sensory stimuli. In child protection cases, it is important that professionals understand the difficulties that the parent may experience and have an understanding of the disorder and ensure that the appropriate support is put in place for these parents.
Why is neurodiversity understanding important for the civil courts?
Neurodiversity within the workplace is generally referred to those individuals who have dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, ADD/ADHD and ASD, but more commonly they have a specific learning difficulty. It is important to understand these, as sometimes cases which go to an employment tribunal, the employer may not realise that the difficulties that an individual is experiencing is related to particular learning difficulties. An assessment should attempt to provide a reason for the difficulties people are experiencing and for them and their employer to take the appropriate action. A thorough assessment should include an assessment of their working environment, in addition to recommended adjustments that could support the employee with their difficulties. As part of the service I deliver, I conduct an open-ended interview with the employee about their current job role. Then a workplace needs assessment report is compiled. I also deliver support training in order to create tailored interventions which can be used to help improve employee’s skills, such as reading, writing and memory. Advice and training can be provided in the following areas:
- Reading
- Writing & Typing
- Spelling
- Organisation & Prioritisation
- Note Taking
- Speaking
- Time Management
- Listening & Concentrating
- E-mails
- Working Environment
- Career Goals
- Confidence
- Resilience development
What should the courts look for in an expert in this specialty?
There is no definitive legal definition of an expert. It is a matter for the court to rule upon in each case. However, the Legal Guidance (prepared by the Crown Prosecution Service for England and Wales) defines an expert as: "A person whose evidence is intended to be tendered before a court and who has relevant skill or knowledge achieved through research, experience or professional application within a specific field sufficient to entitle them to give evidence of their opinion and upon which the court may require independent, impartial assistance" (Crown Prosecution Service, 2010, para. 36.2).
The legal profession, if instructing experts, should refer to the new expert witness guidance developed by the British Psychological Society, which as part of the Expert Witness Advisory Group I helped to develop. In the first instance, psychologists must be competent in respect of the knowledge required by the Court, and expertise within a specialised field, may include:
- Qualifications and/or degree(s) in the areas(s) in question;
- A number of years of post-doctoral/post-qualification experience;
- Academic, professional and scientific publications in relevant areas;
- Demonstrations of professional practice, competence, specialist knowledge and expertise with a bearing upon the issues in the case; and
- Current experience in applying psychology in the area of claimed expertise. For example, instructing a psychologist to assess adults in the work would requires a specific grounding in workplace issues, adult learning and performance management processes. Likewise instructing a psychologist to assess neurodevelopment issues of parents in child protection cases, would require experience of working with adults in areas including ASD, ADHD and other specific learning difficulties and have an understanding of the child protection and family court processes.
In order to provide services as an expert witness, psychologists must ensure that they have appropriate indemnity insurance, and where appropriate, that they meet any necessary safeguarding standards that apply within the jurisdiction they are working within. They should also ensure that they are qualified not only in content, but also qualified in process. Process refers to the act of giving evidence in a legal forum, either orally or in written form. Expert witnesses are not expected to be lawyers, but they are expected to understand the legal processes and how expert and professional witnesses sit within these. They are expected to be skilled in the delivery of evidence. It is recommended that psychologists should only be appointed who have specific experience and training in the area.
Sharon Beattie CPysch CSci AFBPsS
Director
SB Consultancy
e: sharon.beattie@sbconsultancy.co
t: +44 (0) 7795607250
Sharon is an experienced psychologist with unique skills in public protection (including child protection), psychological assessments, expert witness work and psychotherapy. She specialises in assessments of children, adolescents, adults and families and provide expertise in the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders including ASD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia and ADHD and has over 20 years’ experience in the field of psychological assessment. She has particular expertise in providing evidence in legal proceedings (e.g. employment tribunals) in relation to adults with specific performance difficulties at work. Given her background in policing and child protection, she works extensively with the family courts as an expert witness and provides training for psychologists in this area. She also holds qualifications in expert witness report writing, courtroom skills and cross examination techniques.
Sharon runs her own business (SB Consultancy) which specialises in neurodiversity assessment and training and expert witness work . SB Consultancy and its associates provide specialist services across all age ranges affected by ASD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, AD(H)D and other neurological / developmental differences. The organisation’s services are aimed at unlocking potential, raising the awareness of these conditions and providing support to enhance lives whether it is within the workplace, school setting or at home.
If you require expert witness psychological expertise, you can contact Sharon on 07795607250 and at sharon.beattie@sbconsultancy.co
