Petition to make neurodiversity a separate protected characteristic in the UK

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
  • Neurodivergent individuals are denied both fair treatment and mental health services at a higher rate than in the general population.

    I find this sentence a bit confusing. Could you perhaps provide some sort of citation? Has it been proven to be true with research or surveys? Your definition of neurodiversity seem unclear as well (you only give two examples). If you consider "depression", "anxiety", "schizophrenia", "OCD", "ADHD", etc. all to be types of neurodiversity, then I don't think it's true that neurodivergent individuals are denied mental health services at a higher rate than in the general population. There probably is a much higher ratio of neurodivergent individuals currently in mental health services than the general population in mental health services (i.e., the majority of people currently in mental health are neurodivergent)

Reply
  • Neurodivergent individuals are denied both fair treatment and mental health services at a higher rate than in the general population.

    I find this sentence a bit confusing. Could you perhaps provide some sort of citation? Has it been proven to be true with research or surveys? Your definition of neurodiversity seem unclear as well (you only give two examples). If you consider "depression", "anxiety", "schizophrenia", "OCD", "ADHD", etc. all to be types of neurodiversity, then I don't think it's true that neurodivergent individuals are denied mental health services at a higher rate than in the general population. There probably is a much higher ratio of neurodivergent individuals currently in mental health services than the general population in mental health services (i.e., the majority of people currently in mental health are neurodivergent)

Children
  • I'm feeling a bit bad now that DragonCat16 may have over-reacted to my early thoughts. I mentioned that 'bullying' appeared three times because the text could have given the impression that that was the only thing that being a protected characteristic should change, so suggested mentioning discrimination in services and in employment, which happens; I haven't looked for formal evidence. Now the word has gone altogether, which is a shame because I know lots of people relate to it.

    And it was me that brought up mental health - Autistica found it was a top concern. I think suicide may have rightly been in the first draft. The suicide risk is usually quoted as 9 times that in the general population. I have had conversations about whether mental distress is included in neurodiversity, and still maintain that psychosis and depression should be seen as temporary, functional conditions, not a neurodivergence or neurominority. I haven't asked enough people with experience of psychosis whether they would identify that way. Tourette Syndrome on the other hand, which I suggested despite knowing little about, is another lifelong spectrum of differences, and similarly has stereotypes that are different from the reality.

    I suppose I should have said 'appropriate mental health services'. Many autistic people find themselves in the mental health system all the time, but in my case among many others, getting misunderstood and receiving inappropriate, ineffective and damaging treatment. I'd see that as an example of mistreatment by services and discrimination. An analogy I'm thinking of is if in Wales, the only counsellor or psychiatrist you could see only spoke English, which could be bad for a significant minority. Most clinicians seem to unthinkingly define positive mental health as being NT.

    The understanding of what is included in 'neurodiversity' may affect whether the petition succeeds. After some confusion about cross-party moves to make 'gender identity a protected characteristic.. in place of gender reassignment', MPs may think self-identification or self-certification would be a problematic issue. (I don't know much about the issues around gender identity so don't want to get into it. The commitment was in Labour, LibDem and Green manifestos, but seemed to provoke a significant transphobic reaction based on misunderstandings such as that sex would no longer be a protected characteristic. All I'm saying is that diagnosis or self-identification as autistic might be seen as a potential legislative conundrum, despite the fact it makes sense for trans people.)

    'step in the right direction' now seems weak, and makes the proposal sound incomplete. I was more thinking of something like 'We ask that Parliament [or Government] make neurodiversity a protected characteristic in itself, separate from...'. I also have come to favour 'identity-first' language for autistic people: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1362361315588200

    Really just my opinion, and not worth more than a penny.