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 am 59 and found out this year that i was autistic. I have struggled all my life. Some people say, we all struggle we all feel like that sometimes, we all get down, we all getvtired etc etc. That is what i have had to listen to and so that is what i believed. So now, although i am autistic, nothing has changed and i dont "think" that i have a disability, weather i do or dont. Its a life that i have become accustomed to. I am upset with the mental health services though, because they havent recognised the disability and as a result treated wrongfully.
At age 53, diagnosed in 2021, I agree - I still have not had any post-diagnostic assessment and therefore have no idea what my support needs are, in any life area - mental health in the U.K. and Ireland is still the poor relation re funding because there is the perception that mental health issues are not real and people in power simply refuse to understand - some people believe in a “one size fits all” approach to mental health and disability issues and with autism, where the emphasis is focused on children, such people believe that people with autism should be made to keep silent and “stop thier nonsense” and that the only way to manage autism is by means of ultra strict and restrictive milltary style discipline, should not be permitted to live alone in council owned properties for example, especially in Labour controlled areas of the U.K. and leftist controlled areas of Ireland
I'm 69 and have gone through the same. In the late 70s I was misdiagnosed, being female and lived with the stigma of that up until recently. Autistic females were not considered as autistic, that it was just in boys. As a small child adults would talk about me in front of me as if I wasn't there and the word autistic was mentioned a few times and then dismissed, as I was a female, so most likely, i musty be just a r-----d savant. I thought it meant alien.
I’m 52 and was also diagnosed this year.
I too have struggled and, if I’m being honest, thought I was just a bit of a rubbish person.
I was absolutely shocked during the diagnosis process when I was repeatedly told that things I experience and struggle with are not the norm for most people and therefore it’s no wonder I’m unhappy and burned out. I thought everyone experiences what I experience and just did a better job of handling it.