World Autism Awareness Day: 'I want to use my experience to support others'

4 April 2025

‘I saw what the Federation did and how they helped me, and now I want to give back,’ says PC James Dean.

James has been voted in as a Derbyshire Police Federation workplace rep in the recent elections.

He was motivated to help others after receiving support from the branch as he goes through his own autism assessment.

By his own admission, James was finding his role in response policing difficult.

“I struggled with how dynamic response policing is,” he said. “The night shifts and the routine and the structure I found really difficult, to the point where I was only sleeping one or two hours over a 36-hour period during night shifts.

 

PC James Dean.

 

“I was finding it really difficult, but I thought that was normal and everyone has to deal with it.

“It wasn't until I went onto a different unit on an attachment who worked day shifts that I noticed such a difference in me outside work and inside work.

“It was to the point where I was wondering whether simply moving to a team should have this amount of impact on me.”

James visited his GP to explore what might be happening, and was told he could be autistic.

Autistic traits

He was given several assessments to complete, which all indicated autistic traits.

“I hadn’t really considered it, but when I told my family it wasn't a shock,” he said.

“I always felt different at school. I never struggled with education, however, I always struggled with the social side – but I've always found a way to get on with it.

“The same with work. Even when I was finding work difficult, I still got on with it and got the job done

“There were never any performance-related issues, it's how it affected me after work.”

James, who has been an officer for three years and was a PCSO before that, was supported during the occupational health referral process by the then branch chair Tony Wetton.

Federation support

“The Fed supported me in moving to somewhere I’m now happy and doing well,” he said. “They were the main link between me and the Force and Tony was able to get me updates. It helped a lot.

“I liked what they did and know they support officers in other things such as misconduct.

“It all interests me, so I wanted to get involved in trying to help people a bit and give back.”

James is now based in Derby and is part of the Neighbourhood Acquisitive Crime Team (NACT).

“It suits me a lot better, and my new sergeant and the team have been really supportive,” he said. “It’s more investigation-based, and I wanted to go into investigations anyway, and there are no night shifts.

“Since leaving response, I’ve got Taser training now, and loads of other courses, which I never thought I'd do.

Feeling happier

“If I wasn’t enjoying it and feeling happier, I wouldn't be taking on these extra things like being a Fed rep.”

Those extras include being part of the Force’s neurodiversity group. The group has around 250 people, not all of whom are neurodiverse but they may be going through the assessment process, or have family members who are neurodiverse, or just want to support their colleagues.

James said: “It’s a safe place for people to talk about their lived experiences and to support each other.”

The 31-year-old wrote his dissertation for his university degree on neurodiversity in police investigations, while also working as a full-time officer.

He explained: “It's about putting the right people in the right places, rather than into holes they don't quite fit.

“It means they flourish, whereas pushing them into areas they don't fit, that’s when you start getting underperformance and even sicknesses, which impacts the individual and the Force.

“If you put someone in the right job where they're happy, the Force is happy, everyone’s happy.”

University dissertation

James recently presented on his university dissertation to a room of around 200 people, including senior officers from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire police forces, and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service.

He said that until recently, it would have been something he would have ‘shied away from’.

“I wouldn’t have spoken in front of a couple of people, so I would never have thought I’d speak in front of a room 200 high-ranking stakeholders in big organisations like the police and fire service,” he said.

“Now I like pushing myself into those situations, because I never thought I’d do anything like that.

“I think getting older and more experienced helps.

Speak out

“But also, now that the Force has helped me I realise the only way other people are going to get help is to speak out about it.

“If I didn’t speak out about it, I wouldn’t have got help from the Force and the Federation and I want people to have that if they need it.”

READ MORE: Rep Steve always learning in Force and Fed roles.