Published on 12, July, 2020
In England, under English Law (Mental Health Capacity Act, Vunerable Adults Act, Disability Discrimination Act, Equalities Act, Autism Act, etc), are adults with an ASD considered to be disabled, mentally disabled, vulnerable adults, or similar?
And if so, what are the legal rights of such ASD suffers, what are they entitled to that differ from a non-ASD person, so on and so forth, etc?
(I have Asperger Syndrome and suffer badly from depression, anxiety, paranoia, fear for the future, difficulty coping with change, etc. So I am wondering whether I am considered as having a disablity, a mental disability, and/or considered a vulnerable adult.)
Everyone with an ASD is different, a person can have borderline traits which can be overcome and eliminated which can be compensated by a high intelligence, having ASD can be advantageous. A perso can be an excellent communicator, an excellent socialiser but may like familiarity, routine. Steven Spielberg has aspergers.
See,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_with_autism_spectrum_disorders
They may be different but not disabled, the environment may exaggerate their problems.
Ah but that’s not how the impact of disability is assessed for the purposes of the equality act. It’s the impact on your ability to do every day things (including socialising) compared to what it would be with out the disability. There are Paralympic athletes who could run rings around me but they’re still disabled because the comparison that the courts make is between them, without their special equipment, and a conventional Olympic athlete (except of course that Olympic sport isn’t ‘every day’ but you get the idea)