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existing in society but not thriving - perspectives of autism - report to the UK Government by The House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Special Inquiry Committee

Phased

Perhaps like other autistic people I consider my experience to be existing in society but not thriving.

I exist somewhat behind a mask from others and most ironically from myself having only relatively recently been diagnosed autistic.

Like other autistic people I notice things that neurotypical people appear not too.  Like other autistic people I also misunderstand things that neurotypical people appear to find necessary to have explained.

It seems to me that as far as much of society works, autism doesn't exist and it does not wish to acknowledge autistic people co-exist within it.

At present I am experiencing this in my own particular way in respect of workplace discrimination which is covered by legislation as I understand it.  I am being hauled over the coals for what as far as I can understand it is pretty much normal autistic behaviour when one is stressed and not treated fairly and reasonably.

I am reasonably well supported and able to engage with this to work on getting things better for myself and others perhaps like me.  If interspersing sessions of curling into fetal position and banging my head against hard surfaces is covered by the definition of "able"... 

The recent report to the UK Government by The House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Special Inquiry Committee New autism strategy must deliver change for autistic people - Committees - UK Parliament is perhaps a step towards overcoming this.

However my first reaction is that on the basis of prior evidence, my moribund floundering and social repression being so deeply seated it will take a considerable amount of activism and self representation in order for significant change to happen.

I wonder if there is a wider thread here about parts of society "cherry picking" what they want to acknowledge to exist, talk about and engage with which is characteristic of neurotypical people more than it is autistic.

Perhaps the "special interest" thread of autism comes about from a weird extension of masking that autistic people engage with almost as a parody of this neurotypical behaviour?

- hehe notwithstanding what I've written if anyone with the same special interests as me wants to join in please do...

Best Wishes

Parents

  • I noticed a detail about the budget plans that gives me pause for concern about the longer term plans here.

    The NHS are being made to privatise more and more:

    https://www.ft.com/content/33cd6644-d40f-4782-bb3f-ad2f14ceb371

    A new generation of local NHS clinics in England will once again be built using hundreds of millions of pounds in private money, in a step that echoes the controversial Private Finance Initiative policy.

    Mental health services seem very likely to move under this category as we need specialists that don't really work in other areas of health.

    Long term it seems that mental health services will be moved outside of the NHS which makes accessibility a big concern. I suspect we are a serious resource drain for the budget and this will e the motivator to pass us on to third parties who can worry about how to monetise us.

    Of course this is all supposition but based on the need to economise and the success the governments have in privatising other services (success at least for their pockets) then it seems quite possible.

  • in reply to Iain

    As a member of We Own It, we campaign on this and sent messages to our MP's to protest and they have responded as PFI was barely mentioned in the budget. It really is so wrong that many NHS trusts spend more on PFI payments than health care.

Reply Children
  • in reply to LucyLandRover
    LucyLandRover said:
    It really is so wrong that many NHS trusts spend more on PFI payments than health care.

    It will be telling to look at the owners of the PFI investors - see who they work for, who the directors are, who their shareholders are, who the parent company is etc.

    This is where a lot of conflicts of interests can arise and where you will see MPs pop up on the board of directors when they leave office or suddenly appear as a major shareholder - the most common way to legally take a bribe while in office.

    If the company are private then the shareholder info can be really hard to get or it will be owned by another company which makes it more opaque.

    There are a load of other shady tactics for MPs to be given a juicy "incentive" to push a particular law through parliment.

    Not that I'm accusing any MP in particular of course, I don't want the old bill meeting me at the airport the next time I fly into the country to discuss my posting online about it...