Kemi badenoch now against autistic children

[Hunnymonster1]

What is wrong with her? Just read that the children commision is saying average wait like to get diagnosed as autistic is 4 years.
So kemi banging on about how parents are pushing gor diagnosis because they see how much extra money etc autistic children get at school is wrong.
The fact is I woukd think judging by lbc many kids are not getting the support that they need.
So js this about her saying the conservatives need to save tax by not helping people or children with autism and mental health issues.
Bare in mind she said similar about maternity pay last week makes me think she's like Liz truss wants to cut alot of stuff
How the hell can anyone support this?
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/kemi-badenoch-autism-tory-leadership-buckland-b2628845.html

People have actually posted extracts to show that you are incorrect in denying that she equates anxiety and ASD as both being down to neurodivergence, yet you accuse them of not reading the article in full?

Must try harder.

She wants to be elected as leader.

Her previous comments show she can't cope with being treated like any other member of society.

Blame the immigrants, blame the mothers blame the disabled. Badenoch' s culture wars are always aimed at the easiest victims.

She'll basically just say anything to be 'anti woke' and if their supporters weren't mostly 70+ she'd be saying older people with no private pensions or property should be sent to workhouses, but she needs that vote.

You're relying on a digest of a single 14 year old paper? Just how desperate are you?

@TigerRag , lots of children need support for many reasons. Their parents should support them and teachers should always be able to adjust their teaching for different children as a matter of course. I think the point Kemi was making was that some children are receiving extra support at the expense of the nation and it is reasonable to ask if all of this is necessary.

@Icanthinkformyselfthanks the autism spectrum isn’t linear and minimising the struggles of ‘mildly’/‘high-functioning’ (outdated terms btw) autistic people risks storing up disastrous mental health problems for the future.

Too true. This is the membership that voted in Truss, after all, and I very much doubt that they learn from experience. At least it should keep the Tories away from power for a long time.

It's not even an article; it's one person's comment on the article, which I discovered by clicking on the other 'article' tab and then clicking back to the 'responses' tab.

It's clear that that poster has an agenda!

Maybe it's Kemi!!!

Haha, or one of her campaign team!

mild end of the spectrum

the extreme of the autistic spectrum

Helpfully demonstrating you haven't the slightest understanding of what "autistic spectrum" actually refers to.

What on earth is the evidence of a large volume of parents hell-bent on getting diagnoses for children with "absolutely nothing wrong with them"? If your evidence is a few "old school people on FB", it's not exactly conclusive, is it? How exactly do you know that either they or their children are not neurodiverse?

The Tories have been known as the Nasty Party years ago, nothing has changed. They love to sow division and set one group against another.

Thatcher said the below but it didn't last long.

Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. Where there is despair, may we bring hope." Quoting St Francis of Assisi, on her 1979 election victory.

Offering support to autistic children in schools (be that mainstream or specialist) is geared towards them being able to engage as much as they can with learning.

Necessary adaptations that will improve educational outcomes.

Pretending that taking such support away will increase their engagement in education (and therefore opportunities to work and be a part of society) is palpable nonsense.

You will reduce their chances in accessing education - and thus increase any dependence they might have on the state further along the line so its not even fiscally coherent.

But you do understand that in order to get this extra support people do 'ask if it's necessary' you go through a time consuming evidenced based process lasting over 20 weeks that involves mutliple professionals and is interrogated by a panel.

There isn't an automatic bonus for you or thr school if you get a diagnosis.

I give you "Big society!?!"

Shame he didn't know that it meant government and councils with a few others pay for the tangible items while people give their time and expertise for nothing.

But Kemi doesn't need to point to facts, when she can point to facts on the ground and misinterpret them to appeal to her very narrow electorate. Try getting a taxi for a weekday afternoon and you'll be told, "They're all out on school contracts". Now imagine how many 72yo got a taxi to school in their day. It doesn't matter what the full facts are, just the facts on the ground and how conservative members want to interpret them.

Yes, I'm extremely cynical about politics. But Kemi is steering a path that will almost certainly see her the next leader of the conservatives in opposition. She's think-skinned and probably far to eager to rise to the bait to succeed in that position for long. But her present strategy is unfortunately a sound one.

Wow. How to tell us you know nothing about autism without saying so.

Define "very bright" in the context of autism. A very neurodiverse person may, to use a stereotype, have a fantastic understanding of mathematical theory or IT and yet be almost totally unable to function in society or to work with other people. Should we just assume they can work out all their issues and leave them to it without support because they're "very bright"?

I'm a pensioner and I'm disgusted

I am also horrified at the two they've kept to choose between

They could solve a lot of school based anxiety and avoidance and burnout in neurodivergent kids by reforming the curriculum away from the ridiculous Gove curriculum, overly packed and designed for stressful summative assessment at GCSE, and stopping zero tolerance overly rigid rules in academy trusts that don't enable reasonable adjustments.

They would improve it further by ensuring all schools are capable of a wider offer than just GCSE, with vocational qualifications, ASDAN and functional skills assessments on offer to those who need examinations at a different level. Have this as an ofsted priority instead of progress 8 or baccalaureate that force schools to make children sit too many exams.

Then if they made class sizes smaller and made the space more sensory friendly, didn't have 1500 kids packed in like sardines in corridors moving between lessons, etc, that would help even more.

Much more inclusive than building loads more special schools to pick up the pieces of the children failed by an education system decreasingly fit for purpose.

No child receives extra support in the state system unless it is proved that they need it. Ask any parent of a child with SEND just how difficult it is to get an EHC Plan, let alone to get the right provision in school as a result. You just don't get it without very good professional evidence. And, yet again, simply having an ASD diagnosis never automatically equates to extra support.

It seems she thinks these “anti-woke” comments make her look strong and she’s being terribly clever. In reality they just out her as being thick.

I’m reminded of the Kathy Burke quote. “I like being woke. It’s much nicer than being an ignorant fucking xxxx” (removed the swear as I know some on here really don’t like it)

Ugh she's showing herself to be so dumb. Just attention seeking like a love island contestant.

Anyone with neurodiverse kids knows how fucking hard it is for us and them. I dream of what life would gave been like without it.

Hope conservative members vote for neither of them.

And how much better would they have done if they had had the adaptations needed for them to truly reach their potential?

My DS is in the final year of a STEM degree. He has indeed done very well, and is extremely intelligent.

But it is only since understanding that he is autistic that he has been able to make the changes to how he manages life that have led him there. Until that happened, he struggled and struggled, believed he was stupid and incompetent and lazy - you name it. This is why early support is important. It's an investment in a part of our workforce that would really pay off longer term, reducing the waste of talent. But Kemi isn't smart enough to realise that, she just sees something that can be cut. Tories don't understand long term thinking or investing in people.