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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 5 years ago

    So I love this idea but petitions are not something I have written before so I'm not sure I can offer many suggestions.

    Someone did however suggest creating a website to link to the petition which I think is a fantastic idea for two reasons: firstly that there seems to be too much info that we want to include to fit into the space provided for the petition (plus info in petition is for gov but need info outside the petition itself to tell people why they should sign). Secondly I think a website including perhaps various research, statistics and stories will make the petition itself look more...professional? Not sure if that's the right word but people will take it more seriously.

    I'm currently doing a web development course online (building websites from scratch). I've done a fair few simple websites so far so if you want me to pull together a site for it I'd be more than happy to. I will need help with content though - tend to struggle with that.

  • over 5 years ago in reply to J-aspie

    Thanks for your reply. Right now, I am working on gathering the needed info and research. I think I'd like to build a site with information but where people can also post their own stories. Any suggestions for links or other info that can be included would be very useful.

Reply
  • over 5 years ago in reply to J-aspie

    Thanks for your reply. Right now, I am working on gathering the needed info and research. I think I'd like to build a site with information but where people can also post their own stories. Any suggestions for links or other info that can be included would be very useful.

Children
  • over 5 years ago in reply to Cassandro
    Cassandro said:
    In an ideal world equality legislation wouldn't be necessary, as every person mistreated or discriminated against would have allies.

    In an ideal world, equality legislation wouldn't be necessary because there would be no discrimination!

    Even if someone has allies, if there's no law to protect them, then they're still open to discrimination.

  • over 5 years ago in reply to DragonCat16

    I suppose I still have a couple of reservations, but don't let them put you off. I would rather think of them as the part of a FAQ section:

    • In an ideal world equality legislation wouldn't be necessary, as every person mistreated or discriminated against would have allies. Obviously we're not in an ideal world. Equality legislation does change behaviour (evidence).
    • How can we have a legal definition of neurodiversity? What does it include? Does it require a known undisputed neurological or biological basis (because few conditions have that)?
    • What practical effect will it have on employers?

    I think the enthusiasm's potentially there, so hope you can get an active group together.