Can we please stope saying that autism is not an disability?! This is NOT helping

I believe it is important that we continue to recognise Autism as a ‘disability’ so that those that are disabled by it can have access to the support, services and compassion they need.
People with genuine disability should not be left to suffer and struggle alone and unsupported. This is the danger if the disability was not recognised. 
If you don’t feel disabled yourself then that is very fortunate, but please continue to support others with disabilities to have recognition and needs met. No one is forcing anyone to label themselves as disabled if they don’t feel they are but some people depend on it to survive. Perhaps the answer is that autism is disabling for some and not others?

It is true that some of these ‘disabilities’ are only disabilities because they are incompatible with the socioeconomic structures and expectations that we live in and taken out of that context they are merely differences. If the world was run by Autistics the neurotypicals may need adjustments? but as it is some of us do need accommodations and support to survive in the current framework. 

I also believe that we are all so heavily conditioned to be ableist and intolerant of incapacity, that there can sadly be a lot of shame and/or criminalisation around it, but in reality there should not be any shame in knowing our limits and asking for the help that we need. No one can do everything, we all need support with something, why don’t we start a trend of normalising the loving giving and receiving of support without shame? 

I agree with you on this whole-heartily Dredd, I spent my whole life being quirky and ‘not-disabled’, the result was that it was that I had no protection from peoples coldness or exploitations.

I have found only equity in being designated disabled. Obviously it’s not luxurious to be side-eyed and alienated as a result of taking-on reasonable-adjustments, but that is down to social inequities that exist anyway, and can be addressed anyway. Ultimately I have trouble socially, i do have that and I need concession for that, I am not able without that.

As Dredd says, there is certain-humility you have adopt and a certain-vanity you have to drop, to consider yourself disabled. I wasn’t keen on accepting that reality and it took many scraps with hell, to realise that it was right that I acknowledge my flaws and inequities, I am better for that realisation and it was a morbid journey to get to where I am.

At least they're not struggling alone.

I also believe that having any sort of a personal religious faith and developing a personal relationship with God is so important and pouring out all our woes to God in prayer is so important for our mental health - in the past, before there was doctors and mental health, there was the Church, especially in the Medieval era and this is so important 

That’s great Fantasy! I’m so glad that our autistic community is so meaningful for you!

 I love this community too!

If you are born with ASD then it is not a Disability.
It is simply who you are. 

That's what I love about this community and autism in general, we're the same but different at the same time and we can understand each other. This community and all of you mean a lot to me.

There is of course huge diversity in our autistic community and experiences.

I would be very hard pressed to see those advantages. I f that makes you feel better, more power to you.

By this I mean more than just struggling socially and with eye contact, both seem to be what people think autism is but there's so much more to it. Sorry I didn't word it especially well Ausomely Autistic

Well put.

Truth is it is all true - if you see what I mean.

In some ways I am medically disabled by autism...err true

In some ways I am socially disabled by autism..err unnecessary, but true

In some ways I am better abled by autism - oh yeah, also true. Deep Joy!

But "fnctioning" means nothing. Put me in some contexts, I'll function 'higher' than most NTs, put me in a medical environment - wowzer does the functioning get any "lower"? It's the pits.

Not a case of either/ or here 

You seem to harbour a considerable amount of hatred, which cannot be very comfortable. I have never been 'low functioning' but I have been non-speaking for quite long periods in childhood - most autistics who might be classed as 'non-verbal' can communicate in words, just not spoken ones. Even so, I believe that my autism has given me advantages as well as disadvantages.

Fantasy said:

There's far more to autism than simply being autistic.

What do you mean by this?

I think it depends on the person in question. For some autism isn't particularly disabling, for others it's debilitating in many ways mentally and physically. For myself autism is a disability. When it's at its worst I am disabled, usually physically. At times like this I'm unable to go in to work because of how disabled and difficult it becomes. But I understand that it affects us all differently, it is after all a spectrum.

There's far more to autism than simply being autistic.

Hmmmmm....I sort of agree with both sides of the argument with this one, and I think the only thing we should be "evangelising" is the right of the individual to decide what their autism means to them.  But we cannot either, silence the "social" model of disability, because both the social and the medical models are relevant in different ways and at different times.

I understand that many autistic people feel their lives would be so much better if they weren't autistic.  There's no denying that some autistic people will never live fulfilled lives living alone. But it is also true that some autistic people (and I'm one of them) actually enjoy being autistic. 

It isn't for me to impose my view of my autism onto anyone else and I wouldn't dream of it.  Other people have different profiles, different feelings about those profiles and experience different challenges.  But neither would I want anyone else to shove me in a "disabled" box, particularly a medical disabled box I don't feel I belong in.  I worry as much that I may be dismissed and my potential overlooked by such a view as I would worry that someone who faces disabling challenges in daily life may have their needs overlooked if we were to dismiss them with a "you're just different, so get on with it" attitude.

So am I "disabled" and if so am I medically or socially disabled?  Well, I've got a disabled person's bus pass because my viso-spatial awareness and Irlen's preclude me doing that safely.  No amount of reasonable adjustment on the part of society can allow me to get behind a wheel without someone dying!  To that extent, I am disabled and that much is maybe medical.  But, I want to get out and about and enjoy life as much as anyone else does.  This is hindered for me because there aren't buses to take at times that will allow me to get to church on Sunday or the cinema late on Monday night.  Hmmm... problem for me and every other person who cannot drive due to a "disability".  The disability problem of not getting out, I'd suggest is very much social.  Provide buses and I am no more disadvantaged than the next would be cinema goer! To take an example with more serious consequences, my sensory system is what it is and facing medical treatment would always be a major deal for me (medical), however greater understanding on the part of medics and more consideration of my need in those environments (social) could significantly lessen the "disabling" impact.

We can't just hush up the social argument because it is also relevant.  But I do agree we need to be careful that we don't use it to dismiss the very real practical problems social organisation cannot fix.

And while autistic 'superpowers' are a rarity, there are ways in which many of us feel that we have an advantage in some domains.  I wouldn't swap some (note I say some) of my autistic traits for the world.  I understand that some people wish they weren't autistic and struggle to see any positives.  Perhaps for them there aren't any.  Not, as I said, for me to judge, but nevertheless celebrating autistic ability and identity is very empowering and enabling for others.  It helps them accept themselves as they are and motivates them to do stuff in life - even if they do it differently from others.  We wouldn't want to take that away from them.

The key, I think is in treating people as individuals with a right to define themselves and chart their own path.

Have you suggested adding a mute button to the moderators/community manager?

On the other two forums I am on... One has a mute button and the other has an ignore list.  I find them useful for sure.

Re late diagnosis: We’ve all had problems all our lives but we didn’t know why. Most of us were just made to feel like it was our own fault or we were making it up. As I noted in another thread, I was shocked during my diagnosis process when I was told the things I have experienced all my life are not what most people experience and have to endure.

You write powerful words, with authority.

You are heard Sebastian.

With respect

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