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Discrimination against autism

I know what you mean regarding reader's comments. It is mind-boggling how much cruelty is out there--and that's just the stuff that gets past moderators. A couple of weeks ago there was an article about a Downs Syndrome girl who was elected homecoming queen in a local school and it was discouraging to see that "several comments have been removed by the moderator."

Today at work I saw a poster in the nurses' station that made fun of "special" people while pretending to be inspirational. I so wanted to say something about it being inappropriate and offensive but I have often found that doing so only arouses hostility. Maybe I might send an email to the head nurse (she was out) and just say something about, "hey, some of us who work here may have family members who 'ride that special bus' etc." and they might not understand what it is that is so funny about this poster."
 
@ Dragon's Tooth: that magazine cover made the news here too. I don't get it: she's much slimmer than the avg woman remember: she's a size 14 BUT she's almost 6' tall with it. I thought she looked smashing. Didn't see what all the hoopla was all about.

I bet that many o the trolls making stinging & stupid remarks would never have the guts to do so if they had to actually face this model & the public AND stand behind their remarks. I also bet that not one of them could compare to her in beauty.
 
Discrimination varies by geography. Geordie has described for us how autism is viewed in East Asia and it is considerably different than in North America.

I have been in Chicago for four months after 25 years in Minnesota. I can unequivocally say the discrimination against blacks in the Chicago area is shameful; it is unbelievable the number of racist comments I have heard since moving here. In Minnesota racist comments were as rare as hen's teeth.
 
Loomis said:
Discrimination varies by geography. Geordie has described for us how autism is viewed in East Asia and it is considerably different than in North America.

I have been in Chicago for four months after 25 years in Minnesota. I can unequivocally say the discrimination against blacks in the Chicago area is shameful; it is unbelievable the number of racist comments I have heard since moving here. In Minnesota racist comments were as rare as hen's teeth.
Click to expand...

When I was working in retail, at one store if someone came accross as racist or homophobic many people would have wanted to avoid them, I changed locations on the other side of town and it was the exact opposite, racial slurs and homophobic comments were constant, whether it be by supervisors or staff. It was like a culture shock for me, I could not understand it, I had never even heard alot of slurs they used.
 
My ex wife was a size 14 at 5' 9'' and very thin! She was also the only female that could bench press over 100lbs in high school with ease!:D
 
I 'll read and comment on what people have said when I can but just wanted to say that I think some people, if they have been hurt by someone with AS or Autism they just can't get past that and possibly never will (Ie my situation) I don't think our relationship will be anything other than a hi and hello type thing. There are certain people in the world that will just say anything and everything is an excuse and will treat you exactly the same way as someone who had the intention to hurt someone.
 
I have been discriminated against before I was diagnosed, obviously not because of the label (since I didn't have it), but because of my autism related behavioral quirks.
I have been fired from more jobs than I can count, kicked out of vet school, and hassled by police.
I now carry an ID card, and I hope it will help.
 
Discrimination is not just an autism thing. It is done with many things. I feel that like Dizzy has said too that when there is discrimination against Autism you see the young children, not adults. You see the boys and men not the girls and women. Stereotypes don't help in discrimination either but our brains often see patterns. I like Dizzy get this a lot of "O My God you don't have Autism you don't look autistic, and but you're a girl...girls don't get autism." Um yah they do. But I think a lot of the discrimination is stereotypes of what they used to associate with Autism. A lot of people don't even realize that Autism is a spectrum either.
 
I feel that a lot of the discrimination stems from the over-generalizations people make about autistics, and of course the same could be said for others who have to live with various physical and/or mental disabilities. It is indeed a spectrum disorder that covers a broad range of traits - some for the worse or for the better - a fact that many people overlook or aren't even aware of, and while I do admit that it can make it difficult for others to gauge our actual abilities, it shouldn't be a discrediting factor altogether when it comes to such things like employment, housing, education, etc etc. Awareness can only go so far as well - certain people are just far too ignorant and biased to be bothered with the facts.
 
The only people who know what I have are my immediate family, my boss, and my psychiatrist. Regardless, society makes me feel unwelcome anyway.
 
In my opinion, autism happens to everyone, regardless of gender, race or religion. You can be a Buddhist female living in China or Thailand, and your conditions are the same as a Caucasian atheist living in America.

Indeed, I find that fair employment practices with regards to autism must be implemented everywhere, especially among the civil service in different countries. Even for developing countries like the Philippines (which, fortunately, a Filipino friend is working on), India (which has some considerable success in terms of provision of autism quotas to top universities like the IIT, Indian Institute of Technology) and the People's Republic of China. We want the best of local talents to develop their home countries, because it enriches the world, and it will accelerate the globalization processes around the world.

My experience as a coordinator in a local Singaporean autism group, however, shows that some people are indeed more equal than others. How so? Their behaviors are more heard than others, due to their influences from more expressive cultures. The leaders of any autism group, no matter what, has to be Christian, Chinese male (Singapore is 75% Chinese in terms of population, and more than half of Singapore's Cabinet are of Christian backgrounds). It is of my experience that some sections of the population could be so frustrated that they decide not to seek help, or stay within their own ethnic-based community. I feel hat it hurts national building. Aren't all people supposed to be equal under the law, in many countries such as Singapore (or insert any other similar country)?

To deal with autism issues, one also has to deal with racial, religious and gender divides. While recognizing the deficits and the strengths of different segments of the population, we also, most important among all other factors, should consider the strengths of a larger, more inclusive world. It is only when the world stops looking inwards and builds outward bonds with other people, then we see hope and wisdom in whatever we do, and it is with such conditions that we seek out and overcome our current limitations in a lack of social skills and know-how, and then contribute to society :)
 
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