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Petition to make neurodiversity a separate protected characteristic in the UK

DragonCat16
over 5 years ago

I promised to do this a while ago, and now I'm finally getting around to it. The petition will be on petition.parliament.uk. The character counts are extremely limited, so it was difficult to provide the needed information in the available space. Please let me know what you think of the text below, because this is for all of us and not just me. Note that the information I have provided (see the links) is also from a government website, so they can't really refute that.

The title of the petition is:

Make neurodiversity a separate protected characteristic.

The background I have written is:

Neurodivergent individuals, e.g. those with autism or Tourette's, often suffer discrimination due to their condition, whether or not their condition amounts to a disabilty. Making neurodiversity a protected characteristic in itself, separate from disability, would be a step in the right direction.

Here are the additional details I have written:

Neurodivergent individuals are denied both fair treatment and mental health services at a higher rate than in the general population. As a result, the unemployment and suicide rates in the neurodivergent group are disproportionately higher as well. Presently, they are obliged to prove that their condition amounts to a disability in order to be legally protected from the discrimination and mistreatment to which they so often fall victim. Further info: tinyurl.com/y829k3oh & tinyurl.com/yavfxmod.

PS I need 5 emails addresses for supporters of the petition, so if anyone is a UK citizen and willing to "officially" support the petition, please PM me. I can likely get some from people I know, but maybe not all five that I need (I don't know many people).

Thanks.

(Edited based on comments received)

Parents
  • over 1 year ago

    Incidentally I think it’s fairly clear based on case law that neurodiverse conditions are disabilities for the purposes of the act. The issue with the equality act is more one of awareness and enforcement. Lots of people and organisations subject to the act don’t understand it well, especially in the context of neurodiverse conditions. And whether or not they understand it the process of holding them to account when they brake the law is arduous.

    if you want to do something productive I suggest you either:

    1. Petition the EHRC to release autism / neurodiverse  specific technical guidance on the equality act.
    2. Petition NAS to issue a guide to autism and the equality act (for organisations not autistic people) because EHRC will probably refuse to do so.
    3. petition parliament for qualified one way cost shifting for equality act cases so we can get no win no fee lawyers to help with discrimination.
Reply
  • over 1 year ago

    Incidentally I think it’s fairly clear based on case law that neurodiverse conditions are disabilities for the purposes of the act. The issue with the equality act is more one of awareness and enforcement. Lots of people and organisations subject to the act don’t understand it well, especially in the context of neurodiverse conditions. And whether or not they understand it the process of holding them to account when they brake the law is arduous.

    if you want to do something productive I suggest you either:

    1. Petition the EHRC to release autism / neurodiverse  specific technical guidance on the equality act.
    2. Petition NAS to issue a guide to autism and the equality act (for organisations not autistic people) because EHRC will probably refuse to do so.
    3. petition parliament for qualified one way cost shifting for equality act cases so we can get no win no fee lawyers to help with discrimination.
Children
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