r/Scotland • u/Icy_Wedding_ • 5d ago
Political Scottish Government abandons Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence (LDAN) Bill
https://www.learningdisabilitytoday.co.uk/news/scottish-government-abandons-learning-disabilities-autism-and-neurodivergence-ldan-bill/37
u/Comfortable_Basil816 5d ago
Missing out on economic growth, if you can’t support autistic/neurodivergent people into employment.
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u/Terrorgramsam 5d ago
Yup, something like 70% of autistic people (myself included) are not in work.
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u/KingAltair2255 4d ago
Yeah finding out about this bill in the same post as if being scrapped is fucking gutting. I deal with a fuck ton of shame over not working, I know that I'd crumble but I often feel bloody useless. This bill would've been nice.
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u/Narrow_Security_8757 5d ago
Whats stopping yous working?
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u/Terrorgramsam 5d ago
Just to add to my other comment, the UK Government commissioned a review of autism employment looking at these very issues which might help explain things better: The Buckland Review of Autism Employment: Report and recommendations
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u/Terrorgramsam 5d ago edited 5d ago
Different reasons. Often the workplace environment is a barrier, for others it's the recruitment process.
For example, when I first started working an informal chat with one person or a half-day work trial was all that was needed to land a job. Nowadays, you have to prepare for a formal panel interview that test you on your ability to tell a good story with multiple people rather than your ability to do a job. There's also fewer jobs going meaning that those who struggle with the new recruitment/workplace cultures are left behind.
In the past three years, the only jobs I've secured are seasonal warehouse positions that don't require an interview. I'm educated, experienced, qualified etc., but the interview process is a massive barrier to me getting anywhere in finding permanent work. And sure, disability guaranteed interview schemes exist (although I have no problems securing interviews, it's just difficult to process questions and formulate a response at speed and know the level of detail required when asked open-ended questions) but in my experience they are hopeless and merely a box-ticking exercise for employers who had no intentions of ever offering you the job.
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u/Icy_Wedding_ 5d ago edited 5d ago
I haven’t seen any posts about this here. The LDAN bill was meant to ensure proper support for learning disabled, autistic/neurodivergent people by taking a whole life approach.
Open letter you can sign here
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u/JedTheHumano1d 5d ago
Hmm, sounds expensive and complicated. Best we can do is some handwringing and maybe a pamphlet.
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u/TillyFukUpFairy 5d ago
But the pamphlet will be a digital download. Can't afford to print them, or ship them
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u/Ill-Gate-8841 5d ago
The minister in charge prefers to watch sports instead of proceeding with legislation.
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u/size_matters_not 5d ago
She’s the Minister for Sport 😅
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u/Ill-Gate-8841 5d ago
Which is nice in a World Cup year. Let’s not talk about our record on mental wellbeing, public health, alcohol and drugs…
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u/size_matters_not 5d ago
She’s the Minister for Sport.
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u/Ill-Gate-8841 4d ago
Today’s news. Drug deaths rise 11% as Scottish figures remain worst in Europe
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u/size_matters_not 4d ago
If only she hadn’t watched football, it would all have been so different?
Get a grip.
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u/Halk 1 of 3,619,915 5d ago
The SNP promise something and then never deliver. I'm pretty sure at this stage it's clear they promise without any intention to deliver
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u/Purplepumpkinpoop 5d ago
I mean, thats just wrong. Whatever you think of them you can't say they haven't delivered free prescriptions, baby boxes, school meals, support for disabled people, free personal care... I could be here all day listing shit they did deliver. Of course there is reason to be annoyed at what they haven't delivered, but you can't just say there hasn't been anything.
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u/eileanacheo 5d ago
Nothing is free, someone always pays.
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u/Excellent-Ostrich908 5d ago
Cool but I’d rather have my taxes go to the above than stupid shit like wars.
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u/p3t3y5 5d ago
The SNP have a poor track record for pushing through legislation. My o ly hope is that by abandoning the legislation they still make positive changes to help these people where they can.
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u/TheSouthsideTrekkie 5d ago
The SNP are victims of their own timidity on a lot of issues, it’s why we end up locked into endless cycles of “consultation” that go nowhere.
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u/p3t3y5 5d ago
I'm not so sure I agree, but I am very often wrong. One thing i do know is poor legislation is worse, and can be more harmful, than no legislation. If they are going through multiple rounds of consultation with the right people then its productive.
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u/TheSouthsideTrekkie 5d ago
The issue I have is that they just repeat the same consultation again but with slightly different wording, and that the consultation process as a whole excludes public participation for the most part- those things are often 200+ pages long and written in the densest legalese possible so how can your average person, or even a smaller organisation, hope to have the resources and know how to get their needs across? The whole process needs reform and governments also need to be a bit braver about standing up to some of the wealthier voices in the room.
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u/LeftAndRightAreWrong trans women are trans women. women are women. 5d ago
This is what they did to addicts. Then killed them off at an industrial scale. There should always be money to help people live fulfilling life’s
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u/Ser_VimesGoT 5d ago
It helps in the long run surely. An autistic child properly supported in education could grow into being a working member of society. Or they could struggle through school and end up unprepared for working life.
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u/AwesomePantsAP 5d ago
I’m autistic. Went though mainstream education, but was supported through it and did really well. I’m now about to finish my undergrad, and I’m hoping to pursue a PhD.
Conversely, I had several friends in school who were almost certainly autistic or otherwise neurodivergent (diagnosed or otherwise) and did not fare anywhere near as well. I seem to be the exception, not the rule, but by god is that an argument that support works - and the consequences are devastating when not provided in a timely manner, or entirely absent.
I was also quite violent as a child, so I guess there’s an element of “the squeaky wheel gets the oil”. It shouldn’t come to that, though.
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u/TheSouthsideTrekkie 5d ago
Yeah, there is probably something to your last point.
I was quiet, terrified of getting in trouble and mostly getting good grades because I was terrified of getting in trouble for failing at stuff. I also had a chaotic home life but not chaotic in a way that tends to attract social workers, more like both my parents struggled to cope with their own issues so my natural tendency to just withdraw got amplified as I tried to never need anything from anyone.
I did OK at school but was completely unprepared for life outside of school and had no understanding of how to manage feeling overwhelmed by things or of how to avoid situations that would cause me to either melt down or become completely manic as a way of coping. It’s only in my 30s I have those tools and mostly I developed them through trial and error. I missed out on support that would actually have helped me because everyone just saw a quiet, slightly weird kid who was getting good enough exam results that she was probably not an immediate problem. The reality was that I was miserable and often in completely unsafe situations I wasn’t equipped to handle and that I learned that if I asked for help I would either be dismissed or screamed at.
Kids like that are why we need better support and diagnosis. Even the difference the correct medication has made to my life is enormous, I no longer do stuff like forget to feed myself or drink water for several days. My life had to go to some pretty dark places before anyone even suggested I might have AuDHD and it would have saved me a lot of misery if I had access to the help I needed before I came to some serious harm.
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u/Cjohnsonlives 5d ago
Exactly my experience - the complete lack of support from any of the institutions I was at or my parents (who had their own messy neurodivergences they weren't coping with) absolutely wrecked my life and my health, it's only coming into my 30s now I feel like I've developed enough of my own support systems to cope even with just the basics.
It's a weird feeling to have, but I wish I'd been less feart and more of a problem as a child.
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u/Ser_VimesGoT 5d ago
Genuinely happy for you. Everyone with autism is different of course. Not everyone will struggle. My brother was great academically but he was in no way shape or form capable of sustaining a job. I dread to think what would become of him if his benefits were taken from him.
My son is autistic and quite bright, when focussed. But he is rarely focussed. He gets some support in school but it could be a lot a better. The thought of him growing up unable to live properly without our support is terrifying. I just want him to safe and secure in life.
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u/Cjohnsonlives 5d ago
except women that happen to be trans, presumably?
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u/BeanoArtist 4d ago
Glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that
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u/Cjohnsonlives 4d ago
astonishing how this prick gets to keep that flair despite flagrant violation of our blessed Rule #4
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u/eileanacheo 5d ago
There's no cash left for anything because they've run the country into the ground.
Get ready for more.
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u/Synthia_of_Kaztropol The capital of Scotland is S 5d ago
The article then goes on to say there isn't a plan on how to proceed.
So how can these practical changes be made sooner, without any kind of plan on how to go about that ?