Published on 12, July, 2020
(from a discussion I joined in Reddit)
I have been noticing a trend of people who claim that autism is not an disability, I think there were even some people who were asking to remove it from the classification. Do these people not realise the harm they are making to other autistic people, and themselves, just because they have a prejudice against the "disability" designation?
Last year I got my ASD diagnosis, after my social life was ruined by burnouts and horrible blunders.
It is taking all that is in me to admit to myself that I can not do certain things, it is taking all that it is in my self to cope that can not fight my social awkwardness and that this is the only way I can keep socialising with the people. In the best case scenario I end up looking like the "weird one" or the "clown friend" again, it is taking all in me to accept that I have this disability and that I need some accessibility for things.
And yet people keep working to feed this prejudice that many of us have to work against in ourselves.
Every time that I feel I can not express the way I feel or think, it honestly feels like my body is a trap sometimes.
I cannot read body language and vocal cues. Dogs can. I am less functional than a goddamn dog. That's not the fault of society for not being accommodating enough.
I cannot drive at night, bright lights give me an headache and trigger a meltdown. That's not the fault of society for not being accommodating enough.
I cannot stand loud TV or radio. Everybody else can. That's not the fault of society for not being accommodating enough.
I cannot read a map or find my way around an unfamiliar place. That's not the fault of society for not being accommodating enough.
I have poor fine motor control skills. That's not the fault of society for not being accommodating enough.
Something *is* wrong with my brain. I *am* disabled. I need accommodations to function comfortably, and that's okay. It's nothing to be ashamed of because it's not my fault. I did no wrong; I just have a brain that didn't develop correctly. We need to get rid of "AuTiSM Iz MaGiKaL SupErPoWeR". It is not. It's an horrible disability, and my only hope is that someday there will be a way to prevent it.
To be honest, I think that those people saying that ASD is not a disability are either subscribing to the social theory of disability (total lunacy), deluded, or they have such a mild form of ASD that ASD is not a disability for them. I call them the "TikTok autistics"!
I agree with you, people should not try to dictate whether someone should be 'disabled' or not. I also think that a lot of the problem is lack of knowledge, most of these people possibly don't know what the definition of 'disabled' actually is and are therefore misunderstanding the situation, sadly they tend to be overly vocal in their ignorance. I like your term "TikTok autistics"
People who are ignorant are deliberately so - and even when knowledge, insights and information is presented to them, they still stubbornly refuse to acknowledge and refuse to understand anything outside of which they have already made thier minds up about, point blank disagreeing with the other person for its own sake and invalidating anything that a person with autism says, seeing it as a disability even if it’s not, using this either way as an excuse to invalidate and discredit the other person with disability via groupthink, accusing the other person with disability of wrongthink - they believe that a person with autism is both stupid has no IQ and has mental health issues, must not be allowed to live alone and that the only way to manage autism is via ultra strict military style discipline, the harsher and stricter the better - the only way to get through to such people is if someone in a much higher position than them forcefully and firmly tells them that they are wrong, because if we try to do it, we will just be dismissed and ridiculed, just like with most targets of bullying