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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

    I'm looking forward to Dragoncat16's petition being published. It is just what is needed.

    There are no safeguards to help those on the ASD spectrum from being bullied in the work place as there are no repercussions for the perpetrators whose activities are repackaged as 'having a laugh'. Perception, misunderstanding and 'banter' are commonly cited excuses by the bully for their bullying behaviour. Making neurodiversity a protected characteristic and outlining how bullying someone with ASD traits could present as (in speech or behaviour or consequence) would give the victim a firm basis to launch an employment tribunal or could deter the workplace bullies from their activities in the first instance.

    There was nothing on the petitions page about autism and bullying but I did find this: 'Make bullying a criminal offence' which has 16,106 signatures so far.

    petition.parliament.uk/.../217865

    If we add signatures to this maybe it will give blanket protection to all those who are bullied for whatever reason.

    Text from the petition:

    Bullying can drive people to have mental health problems, to self-harm and even to suicide because we are all human.

    More details
    If someone is reported for bullying, they should have a police warning. If they continue should be arrested and imprisoned for 24hrs. If they still continue then they should do community service. We need to crack down on bullying on all levels.

  • over 5 years ago in reply to Deleted user

    I understand that since the Labour Party conference last month, their autism manifesto has been adopted and includes:

    o ‘Neurological status/condition/divergence’ to be an additional protected characteristic under the Equality Act, with the same legal protections as disability.
    o Strengthen the Public Sector Equality Duty and extend it to the private sector.
    o Develop the Autism Act to include eg. obligations on employers.

    https://neurodiversitymanifesto.com/

    The petition would be helpful to get it implemented anyway.

  • over 5 years ago in reply to Cassandro

    Thanks Cassandro, it was very interesting to read the linked info. I was pleasantly surprised to see how comprehensive and pro-neurodiversity the manifesto is, and the recognition of the coercion implicit in behavioural therapies.

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