100s of UK disabled treated wrongly: Campaigners

British campaigners have warned that thousands of people suffering from autism and learning disabilities are being detained and receiving inappropriate or dangerous treatment in the UK.

The campaigners said in a report published on Sunday by The Independent that more than 2,300 disabled Britons are being locked up unnecessarily.

One of the campaigners, Jan Tregelles, who is the chief executive of the UK charity Mencap, said too many vulnerable people are being held in assessment and treatment units, “where they are at significant risk of abuse and neglect.”

According to Barrister Alex Rook, who has worked on the issue, there has been a number of cases where the decision to hospitalize a person with learning disabilities had led to a deterioration in behavior and health.

“If they end up in hospital, they react badly and their behavior escalates, and then, as we can see, it’s a spiral,” said Rook, adding, hospital staff “end up not really knowing how to care for this individual.”

Kevin Healey, a campaigner for better rights and treatment for people with autism, also commented on the figures, saying, “These cases are appalling. We’re in the 21st century now but it’s like we’re living in the 1940s when autism was newly discovered.”

Healey added that these vulnerable people are in need of unique care and “should be integrated into society, not locked away.”

Relatives and charities called for detained disabled adults with difficult behavior to be released from high-cost units and instead receive better treatment for a lower cost at home or in the community.