Rejected petition Change ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)’ to ‘Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC)’.

I want the government to alter the term Autism Spectrum Disorder to Autism Spectrum Condition due to the negatives held with the term ‘Disorder’.

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Labelling people on the Autism Spectrum as having a Condition rather than Disorder could reduce discrimination, especially online and in the workplace. The Spectrum includes a wide range of characteristics, from high to low functioning and varying sensory issues. For many of us, like myself, it’s not a disorder that hinders us, yet we’ve still been held back, like in my case where I’ve had issue's getting a pilot’s medical despite many others with undiagnosed ASC flying without licensing issues.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.

We can only accept petitions about things the Government or Parliament are directly responsible for.

Decisions about names of medical conditions are a matter for clinicians, not the UK Government or Parliament.

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 6 October 2025
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