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how politicians perceive autism

longman

Are we facing a major difficulty getting politicians to understand autism? I've just had a reply from my MP re the Great Expectations Campaign in which he draws my attention to Mr Cameron's policy on mental health.

I occasionally get into heated discussions with someone who is a parliamentary aide, because he comes out with some alarming insights into what may be the real preconceptions of Government. One recent gem is that Local Authorities' poor fiscal policy is to blame for any people on the spectrum losing benefit and DSA in the current clampdown. However he insists than anyone with autism who loses out through local authority cuts will be fully compensated by the Government.

The other recent gem is that everyone has a touch of autism and once everyone realises it is perfectly normal there will be no more prejudice so everyone will help anyone with autism who cannot manage for themselves. He is adamant that this is correct strategy.

This is from someone close to the decision making process. I do wonder if we are now going backwards and losing much of the ground we have gained.

  • Unfortunately, and to the best of my knowledge, there are no formal qualifications needed to become an MP, Minister, Secretary of State or PM.  This means that anybody can potentially become one, if they can climb up the greasy pole of their respective political party. 

    However, because there are no formal requirements or qualifications, we do not always get the right people as MPs, some of whom will go on to head Government depts that they are not qualified to run and have no work experience of! 

    What qualifies Andrew Lansley MP, for example, to head the Department of Health? 

    Additionally, whilst some MPs are fantastic, there are so many who are not.  Write to some MPs and you'll get a generic response back that does not answer your questions.  Some MPs have not even lived in the constituencies that they represent before becoming an MP!  Some MPs are rarely seen in their local communities, unless they have an election to win, a photo opportunity or a surgery.  (In all the years that Ann Widdecombe was my local MP, I think I saw her more on TV than in Maidstone town centre!  Actually, I do not recall even once seeing her in the town centre.)  And some are so arrogant!

    As I say, sadly, one does not have to be qualified to be an MP! 

  • I take on board the sense that there may be little point in trying to get through to politicians, but we need them to drive through changes to make things better. Hence we do seem to have an uphill struggle on our hands.

    I attend meetings on transport chaired by another local MP (not my constituency), at which I contribute on disabled issues. Talking about the Great Expectations campaign after the meeting, I let slip I was diagnosed with mild aspergers. His comment in reply is telling: "I'm surprised, I always thought you seemed quite intelligent".

    I think we need to get across a clearer message. With my own MP, after getting that stuff about Cameron's plans for improving treatment of mental health, I sent him the NAS website links defining autism and aspergers. However I noticed there's no discussion there of the relationship with mental health or of the implications for intelligence. It is important to give a concise definition of the sensory and communication problems, but maybe we need to emphasise those common misunderstandings, to get better public perception.