 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
Discrimination against autistic people involves any form ofdiscrimination,persecution, oroppression against people who areautistic.[1] Autistic people face discrimination of various kinds, both directly and indirectly, extending into a variety of settings such as the professional, educational and clinical.[2] Such discrimination is often initiated after other people identify the autistic person as being different from themselves, which may occur very quickly.[2] Discrimination oftentimes presents together with associated phenomena, such asviolence,assault, andsocial exclusion.[2]Discrimination against autistic people is also considered a form ofableism.
Research published by charity AsIAm in 2022 showed that 6 in 10 Irish people associated autism with negatively perceived characteristics such as "not making eye contact", "difficulty making friends" and "no to little verbal communication".[3] People were less likely to know the positive traits associated with autism, such as logical thinking, honesty and being detail-oriented.[3] The survey found that ten percent of autistic people surveyed felt workplaces were inclusive.[3]
The Same Chance report was based on two surveys were conducted on behalf of AsIAm – the first, by Core Research assessed public attitudes to autistic people by surveying 1,000 members of the general public.[3] The second survey was of 944 parents, carers and autistic people over the age of 18.[3]
The issues raised in the second survey included accessing healthcare, education, employment and housing.[3]
Research published in 2019 used data from more than 8,000 children in theUniversity of London'sMillennium Cohort Study, which tracks the lives of about 19,000 people born in theUnited Kingdom starting in 2000. Out of the children selected, 231 were autistic. The study from theJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders found that these autistic children were more likely to engage in "two-way sibling bullying", meaning being both a victim and perpetrator of bullying.[4]
Further research published in 2017, a meta-analysis of three studies, demonstrated that "first impressions of individuals with ASD made from thin slices of real-world social behavior by typically-developing observers are not only far less favorable across a range of trait judgments compared to controls, but also are associated with reduced intentions to pursue social interaction."[5] The meta-analysis continues, "These patterns are remarkably robust, occur within seconds, do not change with increased exposure, and persist across both child and adult age groups."[5] This may be why autistic people have "smaller social networks and fewer friendships, difficulty securing and retaining employment, high rates of loneliness, and an overall reduced quality of life."[5] Smaller social networks, fewer friendships, and loneliness correlate with severe negative health outcomes. According to a paper published in theJournal of Health and Social Behavior, "Health risks associated with social isolation have been compared in magnitude to the well-known dangers of smoking cigarettes and obesity."[6] Furthermore, according to theUKOffice for National Statistics, the unemployment rate of autistic people may reach 85%, the highest rate among all disabled groups studied. It is noted that in many countries autism is not a disability protected by anti-discrimination employment laws, and this is due to many corporations lobbying against it.[7] Autistic adults are also more likely to face healthcare disparities, such as beingunvaccinated against common diseases liketetanus and being more likely to use emergency services.[8]
Autistic people are also less likely to graduate fromsecondary school, college, or other forms of higher education, further contributing to high rates of unemployment and lower quality of life.[9][10] This failure to successfully complete education can be in part attributed to a lack of support from educational institutions. In the UK, only one quarter of autistic children instate-funded schools feel happy and are thus able to achieve their maximum potential.[11]
In theUnited States, people with disabilities are victims of violent crime three times as often as people without disabilities. TheBureau of Justice Statistics does not report separately on autistic victims, but it does note that the victimization rate is especially high among those whose disabilities are cognitive. A small-sample study of Americans and Canadians found that autistic adults face a greater risk ofsexual victimization than their peers. Autistic respondents were more than twice as likely to say they had been the victim ofrape and over three times as likely to report unwanted sexual contact.[12] In 2018, a large scale study found that autistic girls were almost three times more likely to be a victim of sexual abuse compared to non-autistic girls.[13]
Representation of autistic people in media has perpetuated myths about autism, including characterizing autism as shameful and burdensome for family members, advertising fake cures for autism, and publicizing the long-disproven arguments surroundingvaccines and autism. These myths are perpetuated inmass media as well asnews media andsocial media.[14] Stigmatization of autism can also be perpetuated by advertising from autism conversion organizations, such asAutism Speaks' advertising whereinAlison Singer describes having consideredmurder-suicide in front of her autistic daughter or the NYU Child Study Center's advertisements where autism is personified as a kidnapper holding children for ransom.[15]
Moreover,stimming in autistic people, which is often more intense than in non-autistic people, is frequently referred to as "distracting". Conversational tones and behaviors seen in many autistic people are often described as "rude".[16] Stimming specifically is often targeted in therapies such asapplied behavior analysis, despite the fact that it is vital to self regulation.[17]
In the United States, recently published research[18] shows that theNational Institutes of Health (NIH) has not funded grants focused on the treatment of physical health disparity conditions, such asinsomnia,cardiovascular disease, and other conditions, in autistic adults across four decades of research funding. McDonald and Scudder (2023) explicitly distinguish health disparity conditions that affect the lives of autistic people from research grants focused on thecause,”cure”, and prevention of autism. Although their research focused on autistic adults without anintellectual disability, the research did not exclude this population and found a lack of funded grants focused on the treatment of health disparity conditions for autistic adults with intellectual disabilities. The research describes several systemic discriminatory "nodes" of practices and policies that may contribute to the apparent discrimination in research grant funding. These include the exclusion of disability populations from groups designated for physical health disparity research grants, the designation of autism as a "primary disease;" a designation used as a rationale for some National Institutes of Health (e.g., theNational Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) to exclude research focused on autistic populations from grant funding review, and the pressure on early career researchers by academic institutions (that receive NIH funding) to either change their research topic or their population for NIH grant applications and to avoid challenging NIH policies until they are at a more advanced stage in their career.
In the United States, thefirst Trump administration reportedly supported restrictive immigration policies that discriminated against autistic people. Under these policies, autistic immigrants faced deportation.[19][20]
InCanada, autistic immigrants have been denied citizenship or they have faced deportation due to the perception that they are a "burden" upon the Canadian medical system. In 2018, reforms in Canadian immigration law were announced – these reforms are supposed to make it easier for autistic and disabled immigrants to migrate to Canada.[21]
New Zealand effectively prohibits the application for permanent residency for people with autism "where significant support is required".[22][23]
Australia's health criteria have prompted criticism about its immigration policies. Australia forbids the immigration of people who would be exceptionally costly for the nation's health care or social services. Autistic people are subject to this policy.[24]
{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|url= (help){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)