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"Discrimination can take place anywhere, including in school, public areas, or the workplace. The EEOC protects against discrimination, including autism discrimination in the workplace"
"Discrimination can take place anywhere, including in school, public areas, or the workplace. The EEOC protects against discrimination, including autism discrimination in the workplace"
The Autism Spectrum
The Autism Spectrum
"In a 2012 review of studies, the authors noted that after individuals with ASD left school, only 6% had competitive jobs"
"In a 2012 review of studies, the authors noted that after individuals with ASD left school, only 6% had competitive jobs"
What is the Problem?
What is the Problem?
Discriminating against people with autism is a matter of injustice because it violates their dignity, takes away their respect, violates their human rights, and takes away access to needed or supportive rights (such as medical, education, employment, and community).
Discriminating against people with autism is a matter of injustice because it violates their dignity, takes away their respect, violates their human rights, and takes away access to needed or supportive rights (such as medical, education, employment, and community).
People undermine their abilities as well as overestimate them, by believing they understand or do not need explanations, at the same time because of stigmas that they are either not intelligent, or especially intelligent.
People undermine their abilities as well as overestimate them, by believing they understand or do not need explanations, at the same time because of stigmas that they are either not intelligent, or especially intelligent.
People try to find “cures” or “solutions” and it can be seen as a “disease”, not just a part of who someone is.
People try to find “cures” or “solutions” and it can be seen as a “disease”, not just a part of who someone is.
A lot of young children who have been diagnosed face daily bullying, name-calling, and teasing, before they can even truly get a grasp on what their diagnoses are themselves.
A lot of young children who have been diagnosed face daily bullying, name-calling, and teasing, before they can even truly get a grasp on what their diagnoses are themselves.
Generally, bullying lowers one’s self-esteem and causes built-up anger or depression.
Generally, bullying lowers one’s self-esteem and causes built-up anger or depression.
The discrimination intersects with the injustice of mental health issues. With discrimination comes detrimental effects on one’s quality of life, confidence, and physical health, and can even lead to other conditions such as PTSD, depression, or anxiety.
The burden of stigmas is increased since autism is not something that is visibly recognizable, for example, as Down's Syndrome may be. Stigmas also lead to children going undiagnosed and untreated for fear that families will be discriminated against or judged.
“Sometimes the condescension occurs without people even meaning to, like this one time in driver’s ed class… He asked me if I had any teacher’s aides. I told the instructor I haven’t had one since middle school. If you watched him closely, you could almost see the gears in his antique clock of a brain trying to comprehend my strange alien ways.” ~Max Driks ( First Hand Experience)
“Sometimes the condescension occurs without people even meaning to, like this one time in driver’s ed class… He asked me if I had any teacher’s aides. I told the instructor I haven’t had one since middle school. If you watched him closely, you could almost see the gears in his antique clock of a brain trying to comprehend my strange alien ways.” ~Max Driks ( First Hand Experience)
The History
The History
Autism has always existed, but not as the same diagnosis as today’s modern times.
In Ancient Greece, someone born with a disability would be seen as a curse or punishment from the Gods. Infants would be abandoned and left to die.
The first types of institutional care or asylums were not introduced until the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe. Churches and parishes would be given the responsibility to care for the “impotent poor” or people with disabilities.
But not every institution was based on optimistic and helpful ideals. Some would treat their patients inhumanely, leaving them to starve and sit in their own filth in rooms that resembled prison cells. They were isolated from society and their families.
More hospitals were founded throughout the 19th century where people could receive care, meals, education, and training.
People who showed cognitive impairments were labeled as “idiots” or “insane”. It was also used to describe what is now known as schizophrenia today, but they now are two very different disorders.
The concept of autism was coined in 1911 by a German psychiatrist named Eugen Bleuler.
In the 20th century, the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913 was created. This meant that people with learning disabilities could be forced against their own will to live in asylums without their families.
There was even a point in US history where to get married, you had to prove you did not have a mental disability.
They were stripped of their rights as not only citizens but also humans.
During WWII, Austrian doctor Hans Asperger worked with people with Autism, but for the greater good. He helped those with ASD escape by telling Nazis autism was useful and had benefits.
In the 1940s-1950s, children would be given inhumane shock treatments and drug therapies to psychoanalyze and monitor their behavior. Also during the 40s and 50s, researchers finally "realized" that people with disabilities could actually work and live in society just like everybody else.
It was differentiated from schizophrenia and discovered that autism is rooted in brain development in 1980. The criteria of symptoms and description have changed a multitude of times since the 1900s.
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