Thanks! I will pass it along and hopefully we can push for a change. I can’t guarantee that anything will happen in the short term, but at the very least we can create some bad publicity for them.

I’m mildly autistic, to the point I do have to put on a “face” and try to act “normal” in social situations. I am generally quite sociable and outgoing, so I don’t feel it’s held me back. It’s just different.

Both socially and through work I interact with a diverse range of people, and I don’t think I am any more different than a British person is from an Italian. I’ve taken the mindset that if someone has a problem with that difference, it’s merely an excuse for their bigotry that would’ve surfaced for a different reason either way.

On the flip side, it’s been incredibly helpful in my career. I have an affinity for processes and an analytical brain, as well as the ability to disconnect from any discussion emotionally. I have always felt that this stems from my autism and it’s allowed me to have business discussions about difficult topics while leaving Ego at the proverbial door.

So I would say that for me in particular, it’s been a positive. Someone having a problem with me being different is just that; their problem, not mine.

Hey Op, since you appear to be somewhere in the EU based on your mention of Euro pricing, would you be willing to name and shame the wheelchair manufacturer and/or model?

Without giving too much of my own personal information away, I might be in a position to cause a bit of ruckus for this particular company in terms of bad PR, possibly legislatively. I work for a company that profiles itself on doing this stuff “the right way” (secure practises, not screwing users this way, etc) and we are working on building a list of practises we are hoping to root out EU-Wide with some examples that are clearly exploitative.

I need nothing personally identifiable, just the brand and model, and I can pass it along to the team that can investigate further.