Published on 12, July, 2020
Today completes an important step for the National Autistic Society. Today with Rule 13 they complete the abdication of responsibility for supporting autistic adults reaching out for help.You may remember in 2021 that the National Autistic Society closed its general helpline. There was a thread about it on this forum. As was pointed out at the time from that point onwards this forum became the only port of call at the National Autistic Society for help for people who did not qualify for one of the remaining helplines.And the remaining helplines pertain to children in school, children leaving school and parents of autistic children. The National Autistic Society has become a defacto children’s charity leaving autistic adults out in the cold.Now not content with refusing to help autistic adults they now seek to reduce autistic adults ability to help each other. I fully admit that a bunch of amateurs on an autistic support forum is a poor substitute for professional help. However the vast majority of those seeking such help now have nowhere to go professional or otherwise.Some of you know that I also brought a lawsuit against an organisation for discrimination. I reached out to the citizens advice bureau and got no useful help. I reached out to the EASS and they said that they couldn’t help me because the other party would not engage with them. I wrote to established academics with a background in discrimination law and autism and they said they couldn’t help me.Yes I rang that autism helpline back when it existed, back when I tried to get some justice and they said we can’t help you. But at least I spoke to someone who admitted that he was supposed to be able to help me. That helping me was what he was there for.With regard to the law when you bring a case for discrimination most of the time legal aid is not available. This is in part because the majority of discrimination cases go through the small claims track which is intended to operate without lawyers.Something similar applies to the health service. It’s very easy for autistic people to get sidelined in the health service particularly if they are bad at articulating their needs and concerns. Again I know this from personal experience.At this point if autistic adults come to this forum or the loved ones of autistic adults come to this forum and say they are having difficulty with the law or discrimination or a medical issue rule 13 interpreted strictly means that we can provide no helpful advice other than pointing to sources of help that in fact do not exist.For quite some time now I have run a website dedicated to helping autistic people defend their rights and oppose discrimination. I chose not to include a forum on that website because I was aware that policing it could involve a substantial amount of work. However this development has persuaded me to change my mind. So I’m announcing that areyoualien.uk now has a forum for autistic people. The focus of this forum like the website is advocating for autistic rights in government policy and the law and opposing discrimination. You are all very much welcome there.
I'm wondering if there is an anxiety about being sued with regard to this?
Anyway, since I've been on this forum (less than a year) suicidal people have been helped by the 'kindness of strangers' (out of mods hours).
I really think that the assistance given here with regard to mental health has been invaluable.
I wonder what % of threads are actually on mental health overall.
A large % I should think.
Legal professionals are costly, some health professionals are hopeless (in my experience).
Agreed. The stresses we all face on a daily basis effects mental health massively.
I've found the exact same. What we really need are professionals who are trained in autism - I've never met one yet.
And for agoraphobia! My wife has this condition and had received a course of counciling through the NHS. It was a total waste of time.
What we really need are professionals who are trained in autism - I've never met one yet.
Il percorso di studi per diventare Psicologo dura circa 6 anni, a cui vanno sommati gli intervalli di tempo necessari per preparare l'esame di abilitazione e l'iscrizione all'Albo. I requisiti fondamentali sono: aver conseguito una laurea triennale in Psicologia
Non conosco le vostre legislazioni: credo non siano tutte uguali, non ho informazioni in merito, me ne scuso. § Negli ultimi decenni la legge italiana ha funzionato così: il percorso di studi che attende chi aspira a questa professione dura circa 7 anni, come 5
sono quelli per il conseguimento della laurea, 1 è per la frequenza del tirocinio e un altro
presumibilmente per la preparazione all'esame di stato, per l'iscrizione all'Albo degli Psicologi.
Most professions require significant training, often at the postgraduate level. Psychotherapy is a bit unusual in that most courses require the learner to undergo personal therapy as well as "supervision". This can be expensive. Another concern is the rise of "pseudo professionals" using non-regulated titles like "coach" or "counsellor". Whilst many belong to reputable professional bodies, have a Code of Conduct, and have to be insured, this is not true of all of them. Of course, to quote Shaw, "all professions are a conspiracy against the laity". (Just throwing a biscuit at the conspiracy theorists, sorry.)
@Nata I can only speak for my own profession, social work. The statutory guidance issued under the Health and Care Act 2022 requires all social workers to complete mandatory autism and learning difficulty awareness training but roll-out has been slow, possibly fallout from Covid. "The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training packages are standardised and delivered by approved trainers. This means that the health and social care workforce develops a common understanding of key issues and that the same language is used across health and care organisations. " [https://www.prospects.ac.uk produced 32 results, not all of which I would consider strictly relevant, e.g. a course on NLP. (Although NLP can give insight into behaviour based on non-verbal cues.)
Good point - will start one now
Iain said:Does anyone on here have experience of doing courses like these? I would appreciate their perspective on the level of challenge and usefulness of them.
A new thread?
I have been investigating the routes to become a certified psychotherapist and most look like a 3 year university level courses that will cost me tens of thousands of pounds and 3 years of my life.
I believe there are shorter options available that lead to more of a therapist level qualification so I'm looking into these option to maybe start next Sept.
Does anyone on here have experience of doing courses like these? I would appreciate their perspective on the level of challenge and usefulness of them.