A friend of mine is much less cynical about politics and legislation than I am. They sent a letter to a pollie asking them what they are doing to help adults with Aspergers, I think with emphasis on the discrimination angle. This is an excerpt from the politician's reply;
"Although I am aware of the problems faced by Autistic people the specific issue of discrimination has not been brought to my attention until now. I will look into this problem but would appreciate any specific proposals you have about how the Federal Legislation can help alleviate the problem." (author's capitals)
That question has certainly given me something to think about. Would legislation be an effective means of tackling the problem?
I would like to know if Australians who are on the spectrum are experiencing discrimination from Centrelink, at work, in educational instututions, health care professionals, from welfare/social workers, the police etc?
Discrimination is not limited only to people judging or treating a person negatively, it can also take the form of refusing to recognise a person's abilities or achievements or talents or potential.
at last! what great news. are you going to write to this politician, lili? to let him/her know your views, i mean.
and yes - legislation is a great step in the right direction, from the educational point of view, if nothing else - it would raise the profile of AS and bring it to the attention of people who would otherwise not know anything about it.
Are you being sarcastic, Vetivert?
I cant speak directly for vetivert, but I'm sure that she wasnt being sarcastic at all.
no, i was not being sarcastic. actually, i'm not sure why you would think i was.
and thank you, Amy
Vetivert, I hope I haven't caused offence, it's just that I don't often see that level of perkiness and niceness in posts.
You asked if I am going to write to the politician. I think if I just sent a letter giving the pollie the benefit of my considered opinion that would not have the same impact as my friend and I collecting suggestions, anecdotes and ideas from others as well as our own and presenting that. I'm sure pollies get letters from unusual people all the time.
What do you think of "the specific issue of discrimination has not been brought to my attention until now. "? I wonder if I am the first person in the antipodes to inform a politician of this issue, or am I just imagining that my friends and I get *** heaped on us because we are different?
A bit of correspondence preceded this letter apparently. One politician gave a confident reply that they were aware of all the issues surrounding autism and aspergers, and cited a party member's involvement in an Australian group as evidence. I checked out the group and it turned out to be a group primarily by and for NT parents, with a few aspie members, and I got the impression that the identities of the aspie members was not public information. We can only assume that there is no activist or advocate group by and for aspies or autistics running in Australia.
no offence taken, Lili. and i'm sorry that you don't get more niceness in posts - that's a real shame.
i agree with you - cavassing opinion and presenting it might well be better than individual letters. maybe both - personal experience always wins 'em over, doesn't it? (or am i being uncharacteristically optimistic here?).
i imagine that, as every politician has a veritable army of underlings who filter communications, that any other such has been "lost in the system", although i doubt it's deliberate or malicious - governments are mostly too incompetent for conspiracy theorists to be right.
maybe it'll become a bandwagon - all to the good, as at least that would force it into the public arena.
Hi Lili,
I live in AU...I'm actually from the US...but DH and sons are Aussie. We're pretty new to the AS experience (son was dx'd HFA in late 2003), but I'd be happy to help. Really, though, our experience is limited to problems getting services through the school system in our state. If you think it would be helpful for your letter PM me; I'm trying to be a good girl and not put out too much personal info. But would be happy to help if I can.
Also, I don't know if this would be helpful, but if you're interested in getting in touch with other aspies here in AU, perhaps this link might be helpful? I've heard good things about the chat there in the past, but haven't used it myself.
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~rbmitch/Asperger2.htm
SassafrasTea, please feel free to PM me if you have any ideas of your own about what the federal govt. could do to make Australian society less aspie-hostile or more aspie-friendly, or any relevant experiences that you might like to tell me about.
I have had a look at that web site before, but it appears to be for parents of aspie children rather than aspies themselves. I don't really want to have anything much to do with NT parents. The things they say and write tend to make me irritated at best or angry or depressed at worst, and I think I tend to have the same effect on them, so I'm not going to join any community in which NT parents are a majority. I'm not even that interested in maintaining contact with my own NT relatives.
Since this last post, the Australian Government has made it harder for people with disabilities to access or stay on a disability pension and this has naturally had a flow-on effect to various people I know who have Aspergers/HFA.
Making them go on Jobsearch when there are already barriers to their finding work is to my mind quite unkind and counterproductive.
I would like to know if Australians who are on the spectrum are experiencing discrimination from Centrelink, at work, in educational instututions, health care professionals, from welfare/social workers, the police etc?
Grrr!!! Centrelink!!! Grr grr grr!!! (*******)
I've had plenty issues with Centrelink, but none of them specifically Aspergers-related. They just treat all their clients like scum.
On the plus side... the federal government's Better Access to Mental Health (um, or whatever it's called...) scheme, which gives a number of free psychologist sessions per year, is what finally got me onto a decent therapist who could help with Aspergers and I don't have to pay!
On the downside... and the MAJOR problem, for me... knowledge of Aspergers amongst mental health carers in regional areas is not so much poor as completely nonexistent. I drifted around the mental health system lost, misdiagnosed and generally not helped at all, for more than a decade. And I'm not a particularly borderline case, either! It just hadn't occurred to the many people I'd seen that anyone so (apparently) articulare could be autistic.
So, not only was I faffed around for years getting no useful help at all, but the wide-of-the-mark resources that were spent by trying to cure me of things I didn't have could have been better spent on people who were likely to benefit from them.
Which state are you in, Ethel? That's unacceptable and the sooner that's brought to the attention to the relevant department the better.
Queensland... 'nuff said.
(by the way, articulare = articulate.)
Oh well, there you go! Most Australians will know that Queensland's health system is the worst in the country!!
As you say - Nuff said!!