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Should autistic people campaign for recognition as a distinct part of humanity rather than be labelled as disabled?

NAS71674

I have stories previously of other groups of people such as Irish gypsies successfully campaigning to be recognised as a distinct subgroup of humanity. Irish gypsies do have a distinct culture (they are wonderful people if you knew them) but they are quite a bit closer to most other people than autistic people are. So rather than be classified as a disability (excluding comorbidity like learning disability, depression etc) should autistic people, who generally have a unique way of approaching life (that is common across most autistic people) campaign for the same thing? In my opinion I don't consider us to have a disability, I think we are really just a very different type of human being with a common identity among all of us who share the so called disability. What are your thoughts?

Parents

  • Autistic people are part of humanity? I have to say from personal experience it often doesn’t feel like it. The impression I get from reading the research on autism is that the neurological differences between autistic and non autistic people are greater than the differences between men and women, white and black, young and old. From what I’d see I’d say the differences in our life experiences are greater too.

    So fundamental are the differences that a researcher has recently published a paper claiming his algorithm can diagnose autism with around 95% acuracy just by examining the patterns of brain cells In our retinas.
    We are the closest thing To intelligent alien life most neurotypicals will ever meet.

    The level of difference raises questions like should autistic people be tried by non autistic jury’s? Are we different enough that in an ethical sense they can no longer be considered our peers? Because from where I’m sitting often it doesn’t feel like we’re even the same species.

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  • Autistic people are part of humanity? I have to say from personal experience it often doesn’t feel like it. The impression I get from reading the research on autism is that the neurological differences between autistic and non autistic people are greater than the differences between men and women, white and black, young and old. From what I’d see I’d say the differences in our life experiences are greater too.

    So fundamental are the differences that a researcher has recently published a paper claiming his algorithm can diagnose autism with around 95% acuracy just by examining the patterns of brain cells In our retinas.
    We are the closest thing To intelligent alien life most neurotypicals will ever meet.

    The level of difference raises questions like should autistic people be tried by non autistic jury’s? Are we different enough that in an ethical sense they can no longer be considered our peers? Because from where I’m sitting often it doesn’t feel like we’re even the same species.

Children