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.)
I would have to disagree ALADDIN. I think that all people with ASD have a disability because our difficulties with understanding other people, lack of social connections, anxieties, and the very real exclusions we face every day all amount to one massive obstacle. I agree that we may debate what term to use, and it is possible that a new word will replace 'disability', but at the moment 'disability' is the one widely used word that describes our exclusion from society. Certainly we have ability, which is why the term 'disability' can be confusing, but that ability is restricted because of our difference. We want to change this which is why we campaign and raise awareness, but we can only seek to change our lot if we are aware of our limitations in the present. For if we have no difficulties then there is no point in campaigning
Not everyone on the autistic spectrum is disabled.
trouble is in some parts of the uk social services dont seem to have any idea what they are doing. take cheshire for instance, currently autism is not classified as a learning disability so there is little to no chance of getting any aid from them. There is also the fact that they dont give a damn where they house you and if it provides any support at all.
Section 6 (1) of the Equality Act says that a person has a disability if they have a ‘physical or mental impairment’ and ‘the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect’ on the person’s ‘ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’.
So if you can show that you have a physical or mental impairment, and that this has an adverse effect on day to day activities, and that the effects are substantial and long term then under the Equality Act 2010 you would be described as having a disability.
As regards legal rights and entitlements, public bodies have a duty to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ and not treat people ‘less favourably’. There are also definitions of ‘unlawful discrimination’. I suggest you look on the Equality and Human Rights Commission's website www.equalityhumanrights.com and perhaps call their helpline for more detailed information.
Hope this helps.
Jenniferwave
Well, ASD is such a huge spectrum that these terms are probably all individually specific: Some people with ASD suffer from learning disabilities and they would be classed as 'mentally disabled', but not people with asperger's, who are always of sound intelligence. All autistic people have a disability because we all struggle with areas of life that are natural to most people, but how severely disabled we are is very individual: Some people with ASD will be more disabled than others. The same applies to vulnerability: We are all potentially vulnerable, but clearly a severely autistic person is more vulnerable than an able person with asperger's, so again, it is a matter of degree. And some people with asperger's are very vulnerable, often because of complicating mental health issues and social naivety. I think how vulnerable we are depends on the context: In some situations we can be secure and safe (like when we are in a familiar environment and engaging in our routines), but we can be unsafe and therefore vulnerable in situations that we cannot manage and that might cause us to react in ways that are potentially dangerous.