Community Project - Legal

I particularly like the way they've worded their Pegasus card. It instantly gives the constable the key bit of information he needs, which is that he is out of his depth and needs to contact the station for advice. And having a key word will mean the station immediately knows what kind of advice he needs and who to pull into the control room to give it to him.

Part of the issue is that disability law is quite complex. Most police and even lawyers have limited training in it. You can't really condense what they need to know onto a card. In most cases if the situation isn't urgent that smart thing for any police man to do would be to radio base to talk to someone with special training. But I don't imagine the police would react well to a card that said, 'I'm autistic, this is above your pay grade, you should radio your boss for advice,' no matter how nicely you worded it. That sort of advice has to come from the home office and ministry of justice.

I can tell you that simply making someone (including the police) aware you are autistic does generally increase their responsibility under disability law (section 15 of the equality act only applies if they knew you were autistic) so 'I am autistic' cards are not valueless. But beyond that I'm not sure what you could usefully put on them.

… Maybe something like

“Hello I am autistic person. A legally competent autistic adult, please turn over for more information on autism.”

Then on the back in small text something like

"Autism is protected as a disability under the equality act. The law requires certain people to make special allowances for autistic people. Please see section 15 (discrimination arising from disability) and section 20-22 (adjustments for disabled persons) of the equality act. Or consult the statutory code of practice at the Equality and Human rights commission website <insert QR code https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/servicescode_0.pdf>"

I should point out I'm not a lawyer and that's not legal advice.

You're most welcome!

You might also like to consider:

1. Getting a Hidden Disabilities sunflower card

These can be generic (cheaper) or personalised. In the case of the latter, the reverse of the card can be tailored to include icons that indicate particular autism-related issues that are of the most concern to you.

Hidden Disabilities

2. Getting a MedicAlert account and jewellery (including neck chains, bracelets, etc)

This can highlight medical key info at a glance, whilst also allowing medical professionals access to more information about your conditions and needs by calling the MedicAlert number (which is open 24/7) and quoting your membership number (which is also engraved on the jewellery, along with the key info).   

MedicAlert

In view of my comorbid health conditions, I have both of these. :)

Awesome, thank you again. They have these back in the US and that’s the one I currently have, but it’d be great to have one for here.

There are several of these already (I have one myself):

https://www.appropriateadult.org.uk/information/for-vulnerable-people/identifying-vulnerability