Harder for people with mental disabilities too be in society

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Historically people with physical disabilities have been more visible throughout communities. But many communities have not known what to do with people that have mental disabilities or how they fit into society.


Why do you think this is?

Society is built upon and held together by various social norms. To fit into the group, one must conform to whatever that particular group’s standards are. If you don’t or can’t do so, low status or even ostracism are often the result.

People just don’t know how to react to someone who is different. It makes them uncomfortable.

Different is often viewed as “less than.”

i read up that autistic people are hidden in sheltered workshops and rejected by society

First, I think its just because people with severe mental disabilities are the minority. Society doesn't have to acknowledge them, and there are enough other people around such that society continues to function.

Another point, is that society needs people to behave congruently to work. It's actually amazing how honest and selfless most people are. There is a lot of trust, doing things without immediate reward, opportunities to be selfish rejected, and belief that you and other people understand each other that is necessary for things to run smoothly. Unfortunately, offering accommodations to people often interferes with these delicate processes, especially when you are talking about adding in allowances for people to behave in ways that are unexpected according to the norm. It makes it herder to trust that other people are on the same page and going to do the things they are responsible for.

Another problem is that organizations often have limited resources to try and accommodate as many people as possible. Some people need to be on respirators all of the time, but it is not feasible to install respirators in every business and public space. Similarly, most schools can't afford to hire enough teachers such that every child is worked with on on individual level, and their specific educational strengths and weaknesses are accommodated.

I think there is hope in that reasonable accommodations are more and more possible. It isn't a huge problem, as you have implied, that we require most places to have wheelchair accessible entrances and bathrooms. Many kids get modified education plans, and are allowed reasonable accommodations like more time for exams. I think things like flexibility in work environments can go a long way to helping people.

Too difficult for me.
Pass.

And I was gonna say I don't fit in anywhere, not even my own family xD

I think people are hardwired by evolution to be attracted to and support "pro-adaptive" traits.

You can see it in dating. People want to date others who display physical fitness and attractiveness and psychological "well roundedness." A lack of any of these communicates "bad genetics." This tendency is subconscious and can be deceived (plastic surgery, makeup, body building...psychological adaptation and acting). There's also a gendered double standard with different notions of "pro adaptive traits" for each traditional role. A lack of emotional reciprocity looks worse on a woman in most societies up to the present, for instance.

You can see it in those psychological quizzes some occupations require. So many of those questions are designed to weed out candidates with mental difficulties without violating disability laws. Someone with ASD, for instance, must lie to pass the test.

People care about others with mental disabilities primarily in 1 of 2 ways: 1) It is a close family member or childhood friend which elicits a primal sort of concern and 2) Social welfare which is distant from the actions of the individual.

Outside of those 2 situations, people tend to be averse to dealing with or supporting mental disabilities. They tend to dislike them because there isn't sufficient motivation, such as familial bonds, to deal with the perceived unpleasantness, whether we're discussing someone who is clinically depressed or someone who has schizophrenia.

This inevitably filters into how societal institutions realistically interact with those not sufficiently adaptive to meet the demands and expectations of the broader society.

When someone sees someone in a wheelchair, they think, if a car hit me I would be in a wheelchair

But they can't imagine being mentally ill, intellectually challenged,

Stigma

Even in a non-sexual or non-mate-hunting scenario, the basic psychological tenant remains:
I.E. That which is or is not in harmony with our genetically defined instinctual awareness.

In Inglish:
We have certain innate likes and dislikes created through the evolutionary process and stimulated by environmental influences.
And there are some situations which cause ambivalence.

So yeah, what she (you) said.

I like to speculate that there is an "unintended" and incidental correlation between meeting the basic instinctual needs of finding a mate with the intention of procreation and unconscious bias towards or against certain members of society beyond sexual considerations.
However, anything else other than "doing the business/nasty", from an evolutionary "point of view", is irrelevant "icing (or scheisse) on the cake."

Years ago(10+?) I used to go on a disability newsgroup with a very high % of physically disabled people. A high number of those were very negative about people with mental disabilities/illnesses.

Have things changed since then ? I don't know.

If you were in a car accident, or some other accident, you could be mentally as well as physically handicapped. One bad accident would be all it would take to erase everything and you would have to start all over from the beginning, relearning how to do everything.