Do you think ableism is taken seriously in the real world?

Ideally I'd have liked a comprehensive assessment of my ability  at intellectual and practical things. From that, ideally help to  do better at the things I struggle with.  If still struggling then hands on help.  It's about striking a good balance  between doing too much for a person versus too little for a person.

Unfortunately it wasn't till I was 60, and moving to be near my daughter, that  it was recognised I wasn't an awkward so so with a major character defect. That was very much due to my daughter talking to mental health services here in Wiltshire before I moved there. She demolished a lot of long held inaccuracies about me that had been allowed to wrongly be accepted as 'truth's'.

The sooner you get the help needed to do  better at something the more effective that help is going to be. It's about providing an adequate level of help and support in an appropriate and timely manner. Help provided to 20 year old will be more effective than help provided to a 60 year old.

As  for 'ableism', I have no idea as to what could  be legitimately described as 'ableism' .  Whilst being more interested in what political parties stand for than the average person; I'm  not  heavily into  the 'politics of autism' (for want of a better phrase).

Ableism isn't restricted to autism though. 

Being one of the "walking wounded" physically, I don't consider that autism wounds me, I find people assume that because I can stand and walk that I'm OK, sometimes I am, but sometimes I'm not. I use lifts now because my knees are sore, I will sit down when I need too, because my back aches or something.

I would like to change the narrative on mental health, to move away from it being a term of mental illness or distress and towards things that have a positive impact, a preventative strategy, rather than one that treats things when they've gone wrong. I'd also like to see more acknowlegement of the link between meantal and physical health, if you're in contastant pain or something then of course you're going to suffer from mental ill health, it shouldnt' be that people say to you with the wisdom of the truely patronising, 'Do you think you might be depressed?' The only real answer to that is, 'Of course I effing well am, wouldn't you be if every step was painful?'

Over all I think it would help an awful lot if people and society in general were just a bit kinder and understanding to each other, I think that would go a long way towards making people feel less stressed and overwhelmed. It often feels like we have to make a fuss in a world of competing disabilities so as we are heard.

Being one of the "walking wounded" physically, I don't consider that autism wounds me, I find people assume that because I can stand and walk that I'm OK, sometimes I am, but sometimes I'm not. I use lifts now because my knees are sore, I will sit down when I need too, because my back aches or something.

I would like to change the narrative on mental health, to move away from it being a term of mental illness or distress and towards things that have a positive impact, a preventative strategy, rather than one that treats things when they've gone wrong. I'd also like to see more acknowlegement of the link between meantal and physical health, if you're in contastant pain or something then of course you're going to suffer from mental ill health, it shouldnt' be that people say to you with the wisdom of the truely patronising, 'Do you think you might be depressed?' The only real answer to that is, 'Of course I effing well am, wouldn't you be if every step was painful?'

Over all I think it would help an awful lot if people and society in general were just a bit kinder and understanding to each other, I think that would go a long way towards making people feel less stressed and overwhelmed. It often feels like we have to make a fuss in a world of competing disabilities so as we are heard.