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"!
No. You cannot police how other people feel and talk about their autistic experience.Some of us don't feel like it's a disability, or don't feel like it is a disability in the same sense as other conditions.I'm never going to talk about myself in terms of deficits and hold an imaginary standard most people even the "neurotypical" ones don't reach up on a pedestal, just because someone else thinks their life sucks and autism is the boogey man.
Is Autism not the reason a lot of Autistic lives suck? Should I blame myself instead?
I literally never said that.
My experience has taught it is never just one thing in isolation that causes issues for a person, it is a combination. Most of the reasons people's lives suck is that wider society is cruel and arbitrary to anyone that doesn't fit in with a generalised expectation. I could be socially rejected because of the way I look, but that isn't a disability on it's own.I tell you what I think is my disability it is abuse CPTSD and OCD, those have messed with my life way more than being autistic ever has. And it is depression and anxiety and self doubt that led to learned helplessness, and agoraphobia from those 2. I am very certain had I never been abused for being an autistic child my adult life would have been even better than it is now, and rn it is pretty good actually (recovery is a wonderful thing). And nobody can tell me it's my or "my autism's" fault I was abused. I'm not responsible for the evil of other people. Autism isn't an excuse for people being cruel and neglectful of others. Before I was abused, I was autisic AND happy, after recovering from that abuse I am still autistic and I am happy again.Nobody can take that away from me and that people try to is sick.