Parliamentary Autism Debate

Parliament is going to have another Autism Debate, which I believe will be on 21 March.

The main NAS site has a form to complete to invite your MP to attend this debate.

I think we should all complete the form, altering the main text to state our own personal experiences which we have had in being autistic.  Yes, three quarters of MPs might not attend this debate, having 'better things to do', but they are our representatives and whether they attend the debate or not we may make them think about the problems we face.  They are our lawmakers, they are the ones who can deal with discrimination, they are the ones who make laws on how PIP is organised, they are the ones who can make diagnosis easier and faster.

Mention the difficulties you have - at work, with official bodies, with getting services.  And your MP should reply to you, so post your replies if you do get one.  This is one thing that can make a difference..  We should be lobbying MPs, writing to Newspapers and complaining.  There will always be the apathetic who do not think it will make a difference but inaction certainly won't make a difference. 

And it may just make your MP understand.

The link to the page is here:

https://act.autism.org.uk/page/38688/action/1?utm_source=The%20National%20Autistic%20Society&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10377318_autismact%20-%2014.03.19%20debate&utm_content=Contact%20MP%20button&Keywords=Contact%20MP%20button&dm_i=YA3,66F6U,OSRFNG,OBC76,1

  • What I know/did is work related and is recognised by others and who I know is my outside network and family connections.


  • Sounds interesting? And maybe naughty. Wink

  • Yea I did have a read at the time, If they stopped saying, 'the right honorable' so and so there wiuld have been a lot less to read as well. I dont think there were too many mps there either. Good to hsar though that even though my MP didnt go he has an interest. I Think ill probably email him to say thanks and see where it takes me.

  • I've had a replyBlush not sure if this is the right emoji but Im well chuffed! Had a really nice letter from my local MP it came in a envelope with the house of commons logo on it, which I thought was something tk do with court or jail?? My first thought was no... Ive been done for speeding again.. Thats how extreme my brain is, always the worse case senario comes to mind first.

    My next Question is for those who know about my problems at work, Is it worth involving him, the Mp? BTW he has a family link to autism.

  • Oh, I would have thought something else lol - what I know/did and who I know.

    Glad you have that support and lets make it easier to understand by NTs

  • I've had a replyBlush not sure if this is the right emoji but Im well chuffed! Had a really nice letter from my local MP it came in a envelope with the house of commons logo on it, which I thought was something tk do with court or jail?? My first thought was no... Ive been done for speeding again.. Thats how extreme my brain is, always the worse case senario comes to mind first.

    My next Question is for those who know about my problems at work, Is it worth involving him, the Mp? BTW he has a family link to autism.

  • I think the main area of education that needs to be put accross is that autism is a 'spectrum' with extreme ends I think it should be compulsory in every workplace school and hospital for a talk or training module to be put in place, starting with managers head teachers chief execs...

  • The Broadcast is here:

    www.bbc.co.uk/.../house-of-commons-21032019

    You will have to scroll to 33minutes in to get to the autism debate, it does not seem to be there as a separate entity.  Available for four weeks from today (22 March 2019)

  • Thankyou so much for this.  I will.see.about getting the broadcast on if I can find it and am not beaten to it.

  • Problems are caused by ignorance and that ignorance extends.to those in control of so many places having their heads so firmly placed up their bottoms that they refuse to see the acfual cause of a problem and seek a remedy with an old 'cure' called  punishment.

    How many times for example.are.autistic people caught up in policies which say that 'abusive behaviour will not be tolerated' when they answer back after being dealt with inappropriately. And this is a great.problem when understanding is based on the many, not the few.

    The debate was a lot.of.sympathetic words.which is a start, but these words need translating into action, and the only way of.doing this is to keep autism and the problems we face firmly in the minds.of the public and our lawmakers.and MPs through the media, and personal.stories which must not be seen as rarities.

    Autism.awareness week, as I have said before should be more than baking cakes.and having night walks, but should show how we are discriminated against in.many facets of life.

  • Just noticed the date is today so may be too late, I still think even if he doesn't go it will give him food for thought.

  • Done. I have a bit of a vested interest though as I think some of the issues I am having at work are down to ignorance around the autistic spectrum, but I think we all suffer this in one way or another,  so I think anything we can do to make MPs sit up and listen is worth doing.

  • Debate.is.today, slotted between some minor business which has been occupying MPs for the last two years and a debate.on rare.diseases.  I will post links tonight to the debate.  I wait with bated breath to see what they say ....

  • Already done mine, good to keep highlighting though.

    thanks Trainspotter.

  • Time is ticking away for you to contact your MP using the form, as the debate is only five days away at the time of posting this (Debate is scheduled for 21 March).

    I urge everyone to do this since the more MPs attend, the more that they will be informed of how autism affects their constituents.  And if possible do not simply use the form as it is, but edit it (you can do this before finally sending it) to explain the difficulties you have come across.

    Every little helps ... there is currently about four forms for every MP on average ... lets push that up as much as we can with real problems from real autistic people, not the fantasy world that politicians often live in.

    Also, share the link in the original post on social media, if you subscribe to such things as Facepack and Tweeter.  If the message went fungal it might reach those not only who are autistic but who have autistic siblings, children or friends to invite their MPs.  Messages going fungal have to start somewhere!

  • I second what Lonewarrior has to say about this. Thanks for drawing my attention to it Trainspotter.

    Done. My MP is useless though. I wrote a letter about quack cures, Emma Dalmayne's campaign and got a pretty generic response. I know a few more people in my ward that have kids with autism, so I'll get them to spread the word too.

    Let's hope for the best!

  • Thank you for sharing this information.

    I for one had no idea such a meeting was taking place.

    I do now thanks to you. I will also write the form out and send it to my MP, did that once before and got a lot of good feedback after it from the MP who didn’t actually go but forwarded me the transcript if what was debated and that was good.

    take care Trainspotter, mr Brains .