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
  • The problem is, that you have to have a method by which someone fits a characteristic, as such there will always be people either side of the border. In addition, this could be seen as discriminatory against NTs. Overall therefore I can not see the intrinsic value in it or what it is trying to achieve, as technically all people are neurodiverse, in the same way everybody is on the NT spectrum and everyone is on the Autism spectrum, just to greater or lesser extents.

Reply
  • The problem is, that you have to have a method by which someone fits a characteristic, as such there will always be people either side of the border. In addition, this could be seen as discriminatory against NTs. Overall therefore I can not see the intrinsic value in it or what it is trying to achieve, as technically all people are neurodiverse, in the same way everybody is on the NT spectrum and everyone is on the Autism spectrum, just to greater or lesser extents.

Children
  • It is not clear what you mean by "discriminatory against NTs". A neurodivergent person, by definition, is one with a specific condition, the list of which is available in the first link I provided. Neurotypical people are never discriminated against for being neurotypical, so it's not clear to me when the Equality Act would apply to them. Neurodivergent people, on the other hand, are frequently treated less favourably than NTs, and that defines the minority group the topic of this petition is meant to protect. This is not to achieve any kind of favourable treatment for neurodivergent people. It is only to protect us from discriminatory acts and harassment to which we are often subjected.

  • Yes, very much agreed. Very well said about fitting criterias and that all people are neurodiverse.