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"!
Brilliant post.
From the replies here and in previous discussions it is my observation that this could be a generational difference.
Younger people, who have become aware of their autistic identity at an earlier age, are more likely to subscribe to the social model that autism is a difference
Older people, who have been diagnosed later in life, are more likely to subscribe to the pathological model and believe that autism is a disability. I'd put myself in this category.
Obviously that is a very sweeping generalization and I may be completely wrong.
Maybe we become more jaded and cynical after a lifetime of struggles. Maybe we lose the optimism and invincibility of our youth, because we know from experience how hard it is living in the real world. Maybe we just have less energy to mask as we get older and autism actually becomes more disabling.
I admire the optimism of the generation who are calling for change and I hope they succeed in achieving a world that is more accommodating to autistic people. However I also believe such change will take decades or generations to happen. Meanwhile autistic people do need the protections that disability and discrimination laws provide in order to survive this hostile world.
That is not covering the whole picture. If your support means that you do not suffer worse employment outcomes than your colleagues - conditions, pay, holidays, access to promotion etc. - then your heart condition is not disabling in regard to your job of work. The social theory of disability does not claim to heal medical conditions, just to facilitate people with medical (and neurodevelopmental etc.) conditions living the most productive and satisfactory lives possible. I don't think that anyone here is claiming that changing the environment to better suit disabled people (what the social model aims to do) is miraculous, or that it is the be all and end all; but you dismissed the concept with some contempt in your original post, and that is what I, and others, have reacted to. I think that people considering the social theory will tend to find it a reasonable proposition. I suspect that relatively few would reach the conclusion that it is, "Total lunacy".
When I got my assessment with PsychiatryUK they assessed my level of support needed, and told me: "there is no support available you are too high functioning have a nice life byeeeeeee". They should have evaluated your level of support when they diagnosed you.
I was born with a bad heart. My company has been very supportive, I could not ask for more. According to the social model, I should not consider myself disabled because society supports me 100%. My heart still looks like a dried up grapefruit. I rest my case.
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 don't think the social model of disability is 'total lunacy': for me, that's a suitable way of describing how I'm disabled by being autistic.
For the most part, if the world was more accepting of difference and the methods people use to handle their sensory sensitivities, I would find it a lot less disabling to be autistic. There would still be some problems- I'm never going to be able to play sport or remember to drink enough because my body just doesn't do that properly- but it would be much easier to manage in an autism-friendly world.
I don't expect that to be true for everyone. We're all different. I just don't think it's as simple as 'every autistic person is disabled and should identify as such' or 'autism is a gift and we should all be pleased about it'. It's fine to be one way OR the other, and it's also fine to have mixed feelings about it (as I do).
🐝 Bees 🐝 (they/them) Autism resources in bio #stoptheshock #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs said: there is no "mild form of ASD",
yes, there is. Some ASD people can live pretty normal lives. That' a mild form. Some cannot even take a shower without ait. That's a severe form.
you said it sister!
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 don’t know if do LinkedIn but here’s a post about the wonderful inclusive design of Barclays’ new campus in Glasgow. It’s really impressive!
www.linkedin.com/.../danjharris_neuroinclusion-ndcommunity-ugcPost-7109769633401868288-CbB3
I don't think anyone would seriously suggest that we remove what bothers say for example me, at the expense of you and vice versa, but people with opposing support needs aren't actually enemies just because we wouldn't also for example find it doable to work in the same teams/environments as eachother. I.e. Some people no doubt benefit from the bright light of a hospital or office block but that doesn't mean there can't also be dedicated dim-light rooms. It's not that I disagree with you, please understand, but I know with a government that gave even half a care and appropriate levels of funding it is actually a lot more actionable than people think to make room for eachother even if it's just more islands of accessibility rather than a blanket wide policy... because we know that blanket policy wouldn't work, the NT blanket policy doesn't work now, what is best for one is not best for the other. And I don't like how this thread has set up a wedge of division, misunderstanding, and assumptions about people with (not better or worse just) different autistic experiences.
ok but say you blocked me. And I posted in your thread saying something mean like 'judge dredd is a big X.' (what ever mean thing X might be) You wouldn't be able to see my post but everyone else would. And other people could quote my post. Some person Y might post 'peter said "judge dredd is a big X" ... yes peter he really is.' and you'd see it anyway. On the other hand if any post that replys to or quotes some one you've blocked is invisable to you you wouldn't know person Y and me were slaging you off in your own thread for everyone else to see but you.
I am with you there!
Amerantin (former member) said:I thought everyone experiences what I experience and just did a better job of handling it.
Me too and I'd got to 60.
I think that for us older people it's a real revelation because we've experienced so much of the 'battle of life' (Dickens).
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.
And me. I'm glad Amerantin (former member) mentioned 'internal ableism'. I hadn't thought of it with those words before exactly.
Thank you for that comment, I have been thinking for the last couple of days that it is a spectrum so everyone is different although some of us may have similarities which NTs don't understand.
Yes, I like that there is a wide range of people on here e.g. in ages and experiences.
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.