Don Dale: the children with profound disability held behind bars in the NT

Don Dale youth detention centre in Darwin. There are 15 children with a diagnosed disability in the Northern Territory’s detention centres, but many more are believed to have undiagnosed conditions, which advocates say are made worse by lack of appropriate treatment and inadequate staffing. Photograph: (A)manda Parkinson/The Guardian

Behind the rolls of razor wire in a defunct adult prison, known as Don Dale youth detention centre, sits a teenage boy with profound cognitive disability.

The 17-year-old has served concurrent sentences in the Darwin detention centre while his complex behaviours have escalated into fights with other boys and guards.