Disabled and Non-disabled

[xudo]

aspies in the UK only seem to get support when they have a severe mental illness that affects their mental capacity such as bipolar,schizophrenia, severe depression etc,the government have let down a lot of people who could have otherwise been the valued workers of today.
there isnt enough done to stop autists getting to crisis point.

I live in Cardiff, and just over a year ago the autism service for adults here actually started up a new initiative. It's called the one stop shop, and you have to be diagnosed as on the spectrum to be able to go there. I haven't had my letter yet, but my husband did a course type thing there after he was diagnosed. It was for a group of adults who had all been recently diagnosed to learn about asd and give them information.

They will also help to fill out benefit forms, provide advocacy services, help with employers and the like. They have many groups that meet and each one is to do with a different interest and they have computers, book and games all in different rooms set up and also a quiet room. You can make an appointment or just drop in.

ive heard sainsburys is pretty good for hiring autistic and/or intellectually disabled people, have you tried them? i dont know how true that is but one of my support staff used to work for them in manchester and told me it was a regular thing in her sainsburys.

My husband works at sainsbury's, and they've been great since his diagnosis. He's been registered blind since birth and they were still happy to employ him after high school. There used to be a woman at his store who had lost her tongue to cancer, leaving her unable to talk. She had an interview and got a job there working on the checkouts, all while unable to verbally communicate.

 

[Suzanne]

That is what I am terribly, terribly afraid of and you, my dear friend, OkRad have just put into words that I could not, because it has been a sort of sense, but no words found to explain.

As you know, I have a psychiatric appointment this Friday and well, it is quite frankly petrifying me. I mean, I am going there to be officially diagnosed with social anxiety and know that I have it, but scared out of my wits that she is going to shush me out of the door and told to stop wasting her time. This probably comes from when I was living in England ( my country) and was trying to get help and this so called therapist actually TOLD ME OFF for pretending to be social phobic ie I am sorry, but you most certainly are not social phobic and I asked ( managed to ask) why she would say that, feeling really insignificant, fighting something dreadfully powerful, and she said: because you take care of yourself! You are nicely presented and do not use foul language and disruptive! I believe I got so insensed by her out right prejudice against me, that I said: so, because I care about my appearance and do not smoke or take drugs, it doesn't matter that I have to prepare myself mentally to walk down my road? Nothing budged her! I walked and saying: I am have enough of being treated so disrespectfully and looked around to the group of "mentally ill" ones who had no trouble getting there on their own and associating and the idea of joining them made me want to run.

So, I have never had an official diagnosis of chronic social anxiety. Now, my dr, who really does not have the time of day for me, does actually acknowledge that I have it and said: you are scared of people aren't you? Well, thanks for being so blunt, but yeah, actually I am! And why, I am so frightened about the up coming appointment.

I shall do all I can to not even breath the word: aspergers. Also she is French and so, the complications of languages.

Just to note, OkRad, your command of English is excellent and so is your spelling and punctuation and I sense a lovely chap, so do not pull yourself down too much. So easy to give advice, eh? Because in truth, not been a good day identity wise; feeling somewhat nasty about being me.

 

[Oleg Steptoe]

With the tory government, this won't change any time soon.

I live in the US and the Trump world is looking pretty scary and it hasn't even started yet.
But our health care system is already pretty shoddy especially at the lower end of the mental healthcare 'system.' I sometimes thought of it as an outpatient 'snake pit.' Kinda nightmarish where auties were around sociopath types. Fun!

p.s. can anyone tell me how I can put my scores in the signature? I'm not net savvy at allll... Thanx

 

[Nitro]

I live in the US and the Trump world is looking pretty scary and it hasn't even started yet.

Care to explain why?

 

[Oleg Steptoe]

Care to explain why?

They're gonna repeal Obama's signature healthcare legislation and the rise of intolerance. Other than that, 'Swonderfulllll.... 'Smarveloussss.

 

[Nitro]

They're gonna repeal Obama's signature healthcare legislation and the rise of intolerance. Other than that, 'Swonderfulllll.... 'Smarveloussss.

You are joking,correct?

 

[Alcyon]

Ugh. I hate politics.

 

[Oleg Steptoe]

You are joking,correct?

OK. I thought that's what this was.
I concur with 'ugh.'

You are joking,correct?

 

[Mr Allen]

The government hates the disabled in general, I wouldn't trust them with anything, especially not that bell end Ian Duncan Smith.

 

[Adder1234]

Not sure how it's diagnosed in other other country's, but in Australia Autism is split into two categories; High-Functioning and Low-Functioning. (We also view aspergers and autism as the same thing). I'm High-Functioning, meaning that I can deal with everyday life, though my aspergers does make it more difficult. I also know a younger boy who has Low-Functioning autism, and he has enough trouble just leaving the house.
The government basically uses these two categories to differentiate between those who need aid programs and other assistance and those who can still function without them. Don't get me wrong, every one who needs help can get it, it just makes it easier for those that really need it to get help quicker.

 

[Nitro]

OK. I thought that's what this was.
I concur with 'ugh.'

I found it funny that you are opposed to politics,yet you brought politics up as a cause for concern as an aspie. You still didn't answer my question.

Oh,the wonderful Nobama healthcare fiasco...the one where you are forced to buy into it or face a penalty on your income tax...yes,that went well,didn't it?
The other choice was a known lying sack of dung with a track record of accepting money for campaigning from the very banking institutions that were fundamental in destroying our economy and from Saudi Arabia who we happen to be in disagreement with most of the time unless we need their oil.The plan to wipe out the rest of the coal industry was well thought out wasn't it? Oh,don't forget being diddled by big pharma too. Then you have to wade thru the stacks of bodies that were left in the Clinton wake...yes,we sure could use a leader like that now,I see your point

Intolerance? For what,illegal immigration from Mexico and being over run by another grouping of people who have a belief that doesn't separate their church from their state? Care to elaborate on that and why it is a bad thing?

 

[Oleg Steptoe]

I found it funny that you are opposed to politics,yet you brought politics up as a cause for concern as an aspie. You still didn't answer my question.

Oh,the wonderful Nobama healthcare fiasco...the one where you are forced to buy into it or face a penalty on your income tax...yes,that went well,didn't it?
The other choice was a known lying sack of dung with a track record of accepting money for campaigning from the very banking institutions that were fundamental in destroying our economy and from Saudi Arabia who we happen to be in disagreement with most of the time unless we need their oil.The plan to wipe out the rest of the coal industry was well thought out wasn't it? Oh,don't forget being diddled by big pharma too. Then you have to wade thru the stacks of bodies that were left in the Clinton wake...yes,we sure could use a leader like that now,I see your point

Intolerance? For what,illegal immigration from Mexico and being over run by another grouping of people who have a belief that doesn't separate their church from their state? Care to elaborate on that and why it is a bad thing?

Yeah. That's what I thought and what I meant by 'ugh' isn't what you thought I meant. I'm not going to normalize your thing. So, no.

You will take 'no' for an answer.

 

[Nitro]

Yeah. That's what I thought and what I meant by 'ugh' isn't what you thought I meant. I'm not going to normalize your thing. So, no.

You will take 'no' for an answer.

Ok,four years from now,maybe you can vote the vile and evil man out of office and things will get back to normal again.

 

[Mary Terry]

oh...sorry,i get you now!
i think experienced pyschologists should work with the government to label aspies,auties or anyone with any level of disability,but speaking of the UK-to do this they use a group of awful wannabe doctors who have no clue about anything that gets to complex for their untrained minds to understand,they only know generic stuff like 'bad back' , 'depression', 'amputee' etc.

i wish they would use people on the spectrum to assess people on the spectrum, we are more knowledgeable than a lot of specialists,i once typed a letter of support for my cousin who has high functioning classic autism, and i went through his entire behaviors and difficulties in autism terminology; as i knew him and i was thanked by his doctor for helping understand my cousin and he said its as if an autism specialist had wrote it.
autism is my special interest like so many of us,and we should be used to help other autists.

 

[Mary Terry]

Toothless - I absolutely agree with you that both Aspies and professional mental health care providers should be included in determining where a person falls on the autism spectrum. But has any Aspie ever made that determination about another aspie? What criteria would the judging Aspie use? What criteria would be used to select the judging Aspies? What about Aspies' well-known and readily admitted tendency and sometimes preference to "pass" or "mask" their disabilities? How should society characterize those who hide their autism?

Frankly, virtually no one, including NTs, wants to work. Working for an employer is difficult, stressful and not always intellectually fulfilling or as financially rewarding as one would like. We'd all love to lie around the house, watch TV, play on the internet, and overeat while someone else pays for our maintenance via social security disability, other government benefits, or reliance on family resources. Are there Aspies who can work but refuse due to laziness and self-indulgence? How would those individuals be identified?

Just asking.... you may be onto a good idea.

 

[Mary Terry]

This is an interesting topic. When I was first diagnosed, my shrink suggested I should get myself classified as unfit to work due to disability, so I could get financial aid from the government and help finding a fitting job.
This completely disregarded the fact that, at that point, I had almost finished my medical degree and had my PhD application ready to submit for the moment I obtained my master's degree. My psychiatrist reasoned that I had struggled to keep up with normal life so far, and life would probably be a lot easier if I didn't have to struggle anymore and could find a nice and quiet job with government allowance.
I was offended by this suggestion, because while I have been struggling all my life, I've also made it pretty far. My parents and family still don't even acknowledge my diagnose because I'm "doing too well".
Going on disability (in my country at least) also means not being able to finish my studies even if I wanted to, and trouble applying for a regular job. Not even counting the fact that I would throw 8 years of studying in a field I'm passionate about out the window. And I'm not even going to get started on student loans...

For me, some aspects of my Aspergers can be a pretty big disadvantage, but I wouldn't consider myself disabled. My monumental severe depression and anxiety before I was diagnosed was the disabling part. Having solved that (for now, and hopefully, forever) I'm quite able to cope on my own, most days.

It's ****** though, that most people think of Aspergers in terms of hyperintelligent technological wizards with dazzling sets of skills (not me) while completely disregarding the huge variety of people that have this diagnosis.

 

[Mary Terry]

People forget that "high functioning autistic" means high functioning in comparison with other autistics. It doesn't mean high functioning in comparison with the general population which is overwhelmingly NT.

 

[Mr Allen]

you are being judged by how you present or how you phone/write to the shop probably so your autism and quite possibly your age coupled with your lack of paid work history may play a part in this and it shows how discriminatory the working world can be,autists traditionally struggle with interviews if they get that far [i think in the UK they have to give an interview to people who tick the disabled box].
ive heard sainsburys is pretty good for hiring autistic and/or intellectually disabled people, have you tried them? i dont know how true that is but one of my support staff used to work for them in manchester and told me it was a regular thing in her sainsburys.
my sister is aspie and she got a part time job with ASDA although she has a good work history so that can help.

2 things:

I have been trying for most of the last 25 years nearly to get a job, even before I was diagnosed as Aspie in October 1999 at the age of 23 and half, so it's not like I haven't attempted to gain meaningful employment, but the so called "Equality" laws in the Uk are a joke IMO because no government since the Disability Discrimination Act came in in 1995, and then its little Brother the 2010 Equality Act, has ever fully enforced either Act so companies get to bin applications from disabled people with no comeback, it's disgusting but if I go on a rant here I'll probably end up banned

And secondly, in the UK it's currently not illegal to discriminate based on age, so if I'm applying for minimum wage positions as an office Gofer, I'm almost guaranteed to lose out to some 16 year old straight from school, especially if they've got more than 2 good GCSE grades, It's even worse in the retail trade, in 1998 I went for an interview at the Co Op, which I set up myself while I was on the Dole, and the Manager told me they exclusively used Women on the Checkouts and I was like, what the hell? Even in 1998 that was probably illegal under various laws.

My point is that contrary to the rantings of various Daily Fail readers on Facebook and Sheffield Forum, I have attempted to gain a job outside of the voluntary sector, but nobody will employ the disabled, and even the likes of Remploy know this as they used to tell me not to declare my disability on applications.

 

[xudo]

My point is that contrary to the rantings of various Daily Fail readers on Facebook and Sheffield Forum, I have attempted to gain a job outside of the voluntary sector, but nobody will employ the disabled, and even the likes of Remploy know this as they used to tell me not to declare my disability on applications.

I can understand that you've obviously had a lot of issues with trying to get a job, and some places absolutely discriminate (my husband was turned down for a job years ago at blockbuster, which he would have been great at, because they thought his eyesight would hinder him in using their computers. Obviously this wasn't the reason officially stated though) but to say that nobody will employ the disabled is untrue. My husband is disabled and in full time employment.

 

[paloftoon]

I am just concerned that they are doing that- taking people who cannot work and telling them they can! If they know autism is not curable why are they toying with people?

Problem with being realistic is that people may shut down and not do anything at all. Plus, there are so many things and so many degrees of being able to do a little bit, something, or the job rather than nothing at all. In addition, people will have varying abilities for different tasks.

Encouragement is highly stressed in our society, maybe too much, because it brings the entitlement culture to no end even to highly functional people. I think highly functional people and NTs can and should handle realism. However, people who are lower functioning generally need positivity in their life to keep them going. If they are at a point where they can possibly grow more, then maybe introducing a bit of negativity may be good. It's also arguable that everyone should have a balance of negative and positive to be ideally happy enough, but to be able to appreciate what you do have at the same time. There is no point to down someone 100% of the time. But, I think being positive 100% of the time may not be the answer either. It seems aiming for balance is the best way to go for all, and probably the most realistic too.