Autism is a real disability to some,,,,,,, are you such a person ?

Hi 

I like the desert island test.

Yes and no. under the social model of disability I'd say yes I'm disabled ... under the medical model of disability I'd argue I'm not or at least not very seriously. 

I call this the desert island test of disability. If you strand some one alone with out society, in a remote place, but with all the basics needed for life can they survive, how does their disability effect their survival chances?

For people who's ability to survive on their own is seriously effected I'd argue the better way to meet their needs is not societal adaptation (eg carers, ramps etc) but either medical therapy to improve the their bodies function or mechanical supplementation to augment their bodies function.

(eg better to have a wheel chair that goes up stairs than put in more ramps, better to do experimental eye surgery than give someone a white stick)

Don't get me wrong in the absence of functional improvement societal adaptation is right and necessary but functional improvement is better.

But autistic thinking is not less functional, it's differently functional. It's better functioning in some areas than neurotypical functioning. The relative value of the two different ways of thinking is subjective. In the absence of society high functioning autism doesn't really cause any serious problems. So I'd say it only counts as a disability in the social model. It fails the desert island test.

This is why autism, at least high functioning autism, doesn't need a 'cure.'

I'll take that as "I see myself as disabled" 

Thanks aidie I'll check it out. I've ordered an Alan Watts book. I don't know much about him but I like his voice. I think if I read about meditation more, I might be more likely to stick with it. So far I'm not being consistent enough.

I find that when I'm happy and things are smooth I feel "less autistic". That's not to say I am....but having fewer problems in life or feeling positive means the difficulties don't show as much to me. Take the weekend for example. If my mood was better, I could possibly, have dealt with the miscommunication better and it wouldn't have affected me in the way it had.

Equity is a fine ideal but most people who use the word, in the sense that you use it, have no idea about how extreme the measures are that you'd have to take to truly purse that goal. Consider someone with locked in syndrome. All they can move is their eyes. Well if their eye control is good you could in theory hook it up to eye tracking software. The could operate a computer, have a very slow conversation, using text to speech. You could put them in a computer controlled wheelchair but that is still very limiting, ok what about an exo-skeleton. Still very slow. Too slow for 90% of people to want to interact with this person. Ok so you try to burry electrodes into their brain, to give them direct control of the suit, of the computer voice ... at this point it might actually be easier to cure the locked in syndrome ... The realty of disability is that for a lot of them curing the disability is the only way to come anywhere close to equity.

Then on the other hand there are conditions like high functioning autism where most of the distress and feelings of limitation are not from what the autism makes it hard for you to do but rather from the way society reacts to you. Autistic people could achieve equity for the most part just by society changing.

However what society would have to change is its assumptions about how human beings can and should interact with each other. And society is far less willing to be flexible about expectations of human interaction than ramps vs stairs and putting in a few more lifts.

Yes, I know this as a law graduate but people don't often refer to equity when it comes to equality and diversity. You can't have equality without equity though so it is still what I think the definition of equality is.

yea I looked at the scientific evidence of what helped autistic people ( and anxiety and depression ) . Meditation /mindfulness showed positive results so of I went to try 

I also searched for which meditation worked the best for autism but I found nothing.

but there is an autistic monk called Thomas Clements. Not sure if his book is any good or not

the-art-of-autism.com/.../

There is no thinking involved in meditation. Thinking is the problem.  According to the evidence in the above links and many others, it is about becoming less autistic, less anxious, less depressed, less addicted and so on which seems to produce healthier & happier people who live longer. Who wouldn't want that ? As for coping mechanisms, it is often meditation many people turn to after trying all the other external coping mechanisms that didn't work. 

I agree. It works for many, not all, but many.

Everyone is different. I embrace it but don't want it to define me...keep things normalised. I'm human like everyone else. I'm not talking about changing fundamentally who I am. Of course there's beauty in being autistic just as there is not being autistic. But there are a lot of difficulties people on the spectrum face.  When I'm in the middle of emotional / processing turmoil, naturally, thinking about my strengths goes out the window.

Thank you for your reply. I agree with what you are saying that it isn't a mindset. I'm not talking about trying to rid myself of AS but find better coping strategies for my difficulties. I've made progress through CBT for anxiety so know it can be done, or at least give it a go. I just need a bit more help and time. 

That's just an example of a better coping strategy. That is not the same thing as become less autistic. You can't become less autistic by changing how you think. Its not a choice its a nature. 

There seems to be growing, scientific evidence that meditation improves and changes brain function for the better. 

Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation | YaleNews

New study finds links between meditation and brain functions < Yale School of Medicine

So you really are suggesting that people can learn to be less autistic and hence suggesting that people who not just accept who they are and change it?

rule 1 ----  dont listen or associate with negative, limited thinking  people 

You can change your attitude to something but you can't change being autistic its permanent. The best you can do is develop coping strategies to reduce the negative impacts but that's it. I am not trying to dominate anyone's opinion but I am autistic myself with a deep insight into my own autism and I can honestly say thinking you can become less autistic is just nonsense. You can no less become less autistic as you can become less brunette. I am offended personally by such assertions. However anyone is entitled to their own opinions but not their own facts. 

In my opinion its better to embrace your condition and who you are not to feel the pressure to change what you are. There is alot of beauty in being autistic if you just look for it and embrace it. 

One example of what I have done recently is to embrace the fact that I think associatively and deeply about things like most autistic people and I have found new talent that I never knew I had as a result of that. I only found that by embracing what I am.

wrong, the human brain is elastic.....  autistics have a human brain ..... therefore we can change  if we want to .  I'm referring to high functioning autism

Unknown said:

es I understand about the "change" thing. Because everyone has the capacity to change whether they are AS or not.

Huh no. Autism is not a choice or a mind set it is an intrinsic property of ones being that cannot be changed. Its like saying that if you try really hard, you can change your eye colour. Its nonsense.  Anyone who suggests otherwise doesn't have the condition and or doesn't understand it.