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On the use of forms

Hairyloon

I've been fighting with the court about their application forms as a point of principle, but in the course of proceedings the question has raised of whether people with divergent mental makeup might actually really struggle.
They do give me some trouble, when they ask questions that are not relevant in my case: there is always some doubt about leaving things blank.

While i hesitate to call autism a disability, it is legally recognised as one, and if people do actually struggle with unnecessary forms, then maybe I should carry on the fight for their benefit.

Any thoughts?

  • Autism is without any doubt within the definition of disability as it currently stands under the law. It is down to you though if you consider or disclose yourself to be disabled or autistic. You can be either both or neither depending on who you want to know this.

  • in reply to Iain
    Iain said:
    My approach to this would be to first ask if I had a mandate to do this. i.e. am I assuming that they want it or has someone explicitly asked for it.

    I'm just fighting for choice: should people be allowed to apply simply by following the rules, or must they be obliged to wade through 15 pages of paperwork?

    I found it a lot easier to apply by following the rules: pretty much all that you need to do is forward the email from the regulator to the court with a note of explanation, whereas, as I said, the form is 15 pages, and the only identifiable reason for using it is because they are obsessively bureaucratic.

  • in reply to Hairyloon

    It's down to how clear the form or request is. Things like name are ok, but instructions have to be clear or I try to figure out what they mean or intend by the question.

    But then I struggle with over thinking all forms and questions, even the aq-50 autism test questions.

    I don't do any market survey questions, I annoy the people doing them.

  • Hairyloon said:
    maybe I should carry on the fight for their benefit.

    My approach to this would be to first ask if I had a mandate to do this. i.e. am I assuming that they want it or has someone explicitly asked for it.

    If there is a mandate then do I have the user requirements to ask for what they really want. Have I gained a consensus for a particular result here or am I assuming again. 

    You would probably be best to engage with a charity like NAS to ask their opinion or you may be fighting for something that almost nobody wants and could potentially change things to make it harder for an even larger group.

    Once you have these 2 things clear then the decision to fight or not should become a lot clearer.

    Just my opinion of course.

  • in reply to Stuart333
    Stuart333 said:
    I don't find forms easy

    Do you find forms easier than providing them with the information that they need, for whatever it is that the form is for?

    In my case, I followed the link I was given, saw the rules straight away, found them perfectly straightforward and followed them...
    Boy did that cause trouble.

  • I don't find forms easy. I can't tell if this is more than any one else.

    They often ask questions in ways that are ambiguous or misleading. E.g. I wanted to put my number plate on retention, something lots of people do all the time, but had to get someone to help. It'l wasn't me, you're just not supposed to take it all literally.

    Sometimes official forms come with explanatory notes.