The Aspiescentral Monthly Poll; September 2014

[King_Oni]

Have you even been discriminated against because of your autism?

Perhaps my main reason to ask is because of the recent article about Emotional Intelligence as a screening tool for employment. (found here) It would technically qualify as discrimination (at least, many agree on that); however, I don't think the focus should be just on that and employment and the ability to get a job. Perhaps it should be more generic. Think; denied access to services, not being allowed to enter somewhere, things like that. Though obviously, the employment issue does count as well. Perhaps you have disclosed that you are on the spectrum and a potential employer "suddenly" changed his mind.. .

Discrimination however; by definition would qualify as (according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary)
- the practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people

I'm quite convinced that many people won't hear an official statement as such that someone blatantly discriminates against them, and thus it is often "hidden" or open to interpretation. Though sometimes it's just a matter of connecting the dots as well.

But even if it's open to interpretation, it does count for something.

So, this months question is; have you been the victim of (or suspect you have been a victim of) discrimination because of your autism (and just autism; let's leave race, sex, age and a variety of other factors at bay).

As with any monthly poll; answers used through the voting system will only be recorded. Replies in this thread won’t.

For more information about AC monthly polls;The Aspiescentral monthly Poll | AspiesCentral.com

 

[wyverary]

This is actually a rather complicated question, one to which I'm not sure I could give a concrete answer. My ideal response would be..."Maybe...?"

I responded "Yes, once," as I am not entirely sure it was autism-based.

 

[King_Oni]

This is actually a rather complicated question, one to which I'm not sure I could give a concrete answer. My ideal response would be..."Maybe...?"

I responded "Yes, once," as I am not entirely sure it was autism-based.

I didn't really doubt the answer would be an easy one, lol.

Though I figured it would be interesting to see how many here have felt they have been discriminated against... whether or not it's actually true and factual, might remain a bit in the middle I guess.

If a large majority would claim to been victim of this it surely is interesting, and maybe worth a thread on it own eventually.

 

[The Penguin]

I didn't really doubt the answer would be an easy one, lol.

Though I figured it would be interesting to see how many here have felt they have been discriminated against... whether or not it's actually true and factual, might remain a bit in the middle I guess.

If a large majority would claim to been victim of this it surely is interesting, and maybe worth a thread on it own eventually.

I sure you get comments at some point.

 

[ExplosiveTMT]

Thankfully not. Though if I ever did, I'm sure my mum would've done something.

 

[Lukas]

This will require some thought indeed... since I wasn't diagnosed till very late in life... it would not have been possible... However, the issues that surfaced, due to being on the spectrum, did lead to my being discriminated against... I have been given the "we feel you would not fit in with others" statement quite often... so in a sense... yes.... Had they known that I was on the spectrum, perhaps they would have had a bit more patient... who knows? I would have to say.. directly discriminated against... probably not.... at least not yet.

 

[clg114]

No, not to my knowledge.

 

[Harrison]

As I wasn't diagnosed until I was 50 I can't say I was discriminated against for being on the spectrum. I went to a private grammar school for high achievers so discrimination there was for other reasons.

Since my new 'birthday' at 50 I have noticed that my many aquaintences became fewer and fewer as I notified each of my Aspie diagnosis. For some it was like telling them I had leprosy, but I have a very small core of 'friends' now. Dating has become a 'no' zone mostly because I know I'm on the spectrum and I understand more about the true me with no desire to dump that on an NT.

 

[AsheSkyler]

Well, not because they knew there was a reason for my issues, so no, but yes. I'm a bad cleaner because I have trouble seeing dirt and strong chemicals make me sick, so I get grief for that. I went with "yes, once", because for all they know I am just trying to get out of work.

 

[dragonwolf]

I answered based on the idea that it doesn't matter if I was actually diagnosed. I didn't suddenly change when I received my diagnosis, so the behaviors/mannerisms were still in play when such events happened. In that regard, yes, I have been on multiple occasions. I also probably have much less overtly, since I've made it visible for all to see on my professional blog, but frankly, I look at that as a blessing, because then I don't have to find out the hard way that it's a bad environment for me (if they're willing to pass me up because they now know I'm Autistic, what would that have done if they hired me and found my mannerisms/habits/etc. not to their liking or "standards"?