So, for this week\u2019s instalment of \u201cwhat\u2019s annoyed me\u201d, I present the shenanigans of the would-be Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, pointed out to me by Sonay. I have lots of thoughts on this Ms Badenoch, none of them are what I\u2019d call exactly glowing. I\u2019ll move past that though, as we don\u2019t want this to turn into a sweary tirade. As part of her scheme to become the epitome of everything that\u2019s wrong with the country, she\u2019s gifted the world a 40-page pamphlet, entitled \u201cConservatism in Crisis\u201d. I say gifted\u2026 more inflicted. The title is at least correct, Conservatism is indeed in crisis, but not for the reasons they\u2019re saying. But I digress. It\u2019s basically a long-winded guide on how to pretend the world isn\u2019t happening. The key message being to just pull yourself together, and everything will be fine. Yes, because we\u2019re all a pair of curtains. Pull the other one, it\u2019s got bells on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pamphlet itself is sheer drivel – truly a masterpiece in wasted time. I\u2019d recommend literally anything else instead: trimming your nose hairs, alphabetising your spice rack, banging your head against a wall. All far more productive. But before I waste any more of yours, I\u2019ll get to my point. It\u2019s not just sheer drivel, it\u2019s ableist drivel. Dangerous ableist drivel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To paraphrase it would give this nonsense too much credit, so I\u2019m forced to quote it directly: \u201cBeing diagnosed as neuro-diverse was once seen as helpful as it meant you could understand your own brain, and so help you to deal with the world,\u201d the text says. \u201cIt was an individual focused change. But now it also offers economic advantages and protections.\u201d Ah yes, economic advantages, the glittering reward for being neurodiverse. We\u2019re all positively rolling in privilege, right? I mean, chance would be a fine thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, it gets even better, and for the avoidance of any doubt, I mean worse. Much worse: \u201cIf you have a neurodiversity diagnosis (eg anxiety, autism), then that is usually seen as a disability, a category similar to race or biological sex in terms of discrimination law and general attitudes. If you are a child, you may well get better treatment or equipment at school \u2013 even transport to and from home.\u201d Yes, because nothing says luxury like getting a ride to school because navigating public transport is a nightmare. What a cushy life we lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then there\u2019s lumping anxiety in with autism. How delightfully simplistic. Yes, I mean the two often overlap, but one is a neurodevelopmental difference, as I don\u2019t like the term disorder, and something you\u2019re born with. Your wiring is different. Anxiety on the other hand can be situational or chronic, depending on circumstances. To lump them together in this way is frankly daft. But hey, why bother with facts when you can just lump everything together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s wrap this up with a rebuttal – reasonable adjustments in the workplace, or EHC plans for children, help to level the playing field, and allow us to thrive in a society not built with us in mind. Nobody\u2019s rights are diluted, or taken away. It just makes it more equitable and equal for everyone, to give everyone the same chance that we all deserve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yeah, because that’s really helpful advice…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-divergently-blogging"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.divergentlybeing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.divergentlybeing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.divergentlybeing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divergentlybeing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divergentlybeing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.divergentlybeing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168,"href":"https:\/\/www.divergentlybeing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions\/168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divergentlybeing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.divergentlybeing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divergentlybeing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divergentlybeing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}