Published on 12, July, 2020
My council had autism on the application form and didn't specify it had to be a certain level in order to be registered disabled with them.
This site refers to autism as a developmental disability:
www.autism.org.uk/.../what-is-autism
This link regarding discrimination throws autism being classed generally (ie unqualified) as a disability into doubt.
I find this rather confusing:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/discrimination/check-if-youre-protected-from-discrimination/what-counts-as-disability/
'The definition is set out in section 6 of the Equality Act 2010. It says you’re disabled if:
Is it a variable thing then according to what you are trying use the disability definition to achieve?
Is this because we are on a spectrum with varying degrees of functionality?
After I was talking to you in the other thread I started reading up a bit and got equally confused. I think it depends on what you are applying for. There is a confusion around it for sure. But snippets like this…
‘Physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’
Well there’s many thing I struggle with and can’t do because I am autistic. I can’t form friendships or go anywhere new by myself, I get incredibly stressed driving in new areas or if roads are closed or if I can’t park. So I don’t really live a normal life and shut myself away at home.
I also found this which I found interesting but I didn’t read the entire thing.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Learning-disability-and-autism.pdf
And bear in mind I think quite recently autism was added to the list of reasons why people under 50 were eligible for getting a covid vaccine this year.
Basically I think things are changing, albeit slowly. It’s a hidden disability, like depression and anxiety.
Being unable to socialize---for whatever reason---is part of normal day to day activities and effects your mental well-being. This should be an adequate reason