Automatic disability qualification ASD

MOPaudit

I wish to establish for any autistic person ever worried about if they meet the criteria for disability or not, that I have substantiated that a person with a diagnosis does meet the threshold by definition.

You're disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a 'substantial' and 'long-term' negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities

- A physical or mental impairment ✅️

- Substantial effect - Those with a diagnosis meet this test. That is because the part D of the DSM 5 diagnostic criteria must be met for a diagnosis. Part D states:

Symptoms should cause clinically SIGNIFICANT impairment in social, occupational, or other

important areas of current functioning" ✅

(The wording used here is "significant", I believe that this equates to "substantial")

To elaborate on what is meant by "substantial", for the purposes of the legal definition in the context of the definition of disability, it means "more than minor or trivial". I would argue that the word "significant" satisfies this.

see photo

- 'Long-term' - Autism is long term, it's lifelong ✅️

Who agrees that this confirms that an autism diagnosis automatically qualifies one to meet the criteria for disability as set out in the legal definition?

Thank you

MOPaudit

Any thoughts?

Albus_Scope

Hi @MOPaudit a great discussion, thanks!

Autism is classed as a is a lifelong developmental disability, so yes, in theory it should be an automatic qualification, as it is legally and medically recognised as a disability. But autism is a spectrum and affects people in a variety of ways.