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 however only reading it here as I treat social media
This online community is social media.
Joe said:I've begun my journey of getting reasonable adjustments, of making my own changes in how I live my life to try and be kinder to myself. I can't change how I think or being autistic but I can change how I deal with it.
Well said. I’m at that stage too.
OK, had to switch off from this thread yesterday. Some things I want to say are that the definition of disability is legal and involves impairment. The diagnostic crieria also contains "Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment", so from that I deduce I am legally labelled disabled whether I like it or not. Whether other people accept that or not.
Science is a whole other kettle of fish based around statistical probability of how we think things work. Different discussion.
So, the question I had to deal with was around my own perception of disability and that being disabled didn't mean you were lesser or had a deficit. That it was actually OK to ask for help and accept that I have different needs than others. That my initial thinking was based around my own internal ableism that I hadn't been aware of previously.
I've begun my journey of getting reasonable adjustments, of making my own changes in how I live my life to try and be kinder to myself. I can't change how I think or being autistic but I can change how I deal with it.
I'm replying to myself as I hate conflict and don't want anyone to think this is directed at them or to fall out with anyone, it's not.
Judge Dredd said: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"!
You have no idea what our lives are like, there is no "mild form of ASD", the ableism and name calling here is very petty and violates rules 5 and 7.
Science is not medicine, there is an overlap, but the two are not the same. It is the clinical world that decides what is classed as a disability, not scientists.
I wish this forum had a "block user" function
You are just making yourself look even more obtuse. No I was not joking in any way. As I said before, I was using it "As an extreme case (not intended to be taken at all literally) to illustrate the valid logic of the social theory of disability." No joke there.
As you, presumably, perceived my writing through your sense of sight, then it certainly was 'sensate'. If you are blind and used a written word to sound transducer, then it would still, indeed, be sensate, though through your sense of hearing. The same would be the case if someone else read it aloud for you. If you used a written word to Braille converter, then the sense would have been touch. I'm glad we had this little excursion into the senses.
It's the dictatorial nature of this debate that's bothering me.
Some concepts are not subject to debate. Science is not democratic. ASD is a disability, no matter how many people disagree with it.
That would be one of the most sensate things that you ever typed.
BTW "I was joking" is the oldest excuse in the book.
Totally agree. You are wise.
Me too.
You make life sound so easy.
I agree Peter. I did enjoy Numbers contribution upthread also. I believe I am guilty of binary thinking at times.
Absolutely. We have to remember it’s a multi-dimensional spectrum and we’ve all had different experiences growing up and different levels of support, so our experiences of autism (and co-morbid conditions) can be very very different.
Whether or not someone else feels disabled by their condition(s) is entirely for them to determine.
What I'm finding on this thread and on the other one with a similar discussion
https://community.autism.org.uk/f/adults-on-the-autistic-spectrum/34453/parental-bias-and-autism
is that both sides are telling the other what to think and say and that really bothers me.
If you have a positive, all embracing attitude to your autism and don't see it in a pathological way (+ don't even seek a medical diagnosis because it's from medics) and don't want to use the terms 'functioning' or 'disorder' then don't but please don't dictate to others and police their language.
Don't tell us we can only use the term for ourselves either if we were diagnosed with this language.
If people feel/are disabled by their condition then it's their choice + right to use those terms and apply for the benefits and accommodations available to them.
If there is a campaign 'out there' that seeks to remove the disability status from autism I find that very worrying as there are people on this forum (+ beyond) who really need support and others who are so disabled by their autism that they wouldn't even be able to take part in a discussion like this.
I am however only reading it here as I treat social media like a dose of plague - a place for evangelists to evangelise.
Judge Dredd said: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?
To sum up, I agree with this if peoples identification is going so far as trying to remove the classification.
If they don't feel or aren't deeply affected by their autism then they individually have the choice to not seek any support.
However, please don't pull the rug from under the rest of us in the process.
You misunderstand I think you should blame the world. to say the world should be set up a certain way just because the majority of people prefer it is incredibly arbitrary.
why should a few people suffer for the preferences of the many? Why should the comfort of the many outweigh the needs of the few?
Personally I agree that my autism (ADHD &cptsd ) is a disability, but I'm struggling to get my own head around saying I'm disabled. I think that's because I'm extremely hard on myself and always think I should do better. It's like part of my own mind still thinks "trying harder" will solve everything because I've been told to do so my whole life because noone believed my struggles until I had it written in black and white with a doctor's signature.
Yesterday I had to explain to my friend that her description of me as "high functioning autistic" (she was dealing with a situation for me at the time) was upsetting. And she's TRAINED to support autistic adults. High functioning implies I can live normally. High functioning ppl don't have to ask friends to sort out a parcel delivery, nor do they have meltdowns every time they try and go to a shop to buy their groceries.
There's a fundamental misunderstanding about what autism is, it's going to take more than a handful of documentaries on TV to get the message across (even if they have been very good documentaries). It's going to take a decade or more for the world to more broadly understand autism. Hell even the professionals keep changing the criteria. That's medicine, we don't know everything. In 50 years they might discover something that changes all our perceptions again.
However, autism is only part of our lives. Some autistics will have had positive upbringings , they won't have had the same levels of trauma as others, they have strong support networks in their families, and therefore may not feel disabled because they are supported and thriving. It's ok if they feel that way, it's not anyone else's place to say if they should identify as disabled or not.
Others may be thinking that it's depression or anxiety that's the hard part of their life, not the autism. I certainly thought that before I realised what I thought was anxiety is actually, 99% of the time, sensory. Alexithymia and poor interoception meant I didn't understand my own bodies responses and couldn't articulate, hence the anxiety diagnosis at 19.
We are all different, and we experience our autism differently. None of us knows what's going on in someone else's mind so we can't really comment on if someone is disabled or not.
I also have ASD, and it's been a journey for me to accept that it's a disability and that I need accommodations. It can be frustrating when people downplay it or treat it like it's some kind of superpower. It's important to acknowledge the challenges we face and work towards understanding and support.
Uhane said: I and many of us were either institutionalized, shunned as strange, denied work, taken advantage of by more mercantile minds for whatever gifts we might have, or left to shuffle the streets and sleep rough in crushing loneliness. Things are so vastly better now. I feel valued, seen, heard, appreciated and advocated for.
I and many of us were either institutionalized, shunned as strange, denied work, taken advantage of by more mercantile minds for whatever gifts we might have, or left to shuffle the streets and sleep rough in crushing loneliness.
Things are so vastly better now. I feel valued, seen, heard, appreciated and advocated for.
That's a wonderful piece of writing + understanding.
I, for one, feel like it is still early days. we are in a dynamic of new situation. people being ND as a way of just being, without needing to be brought to heel, is still a new way of seeing things for many, and can be a scary thing for NTs to wrap their heads around: They are often still stuck in a Rain Man sort of modal understanding. But I also see things getting so much better than they were in my youth when there was no support or understanding at all and a much more strident paradigm of sameness=safety, different=danger or contemptible. I and many of us were either institutionalized, shunned as strange, denied work, taken advantage of by more mercantile minds for whatever gifts we might have, or left to shuffle the streets and sleep rough in crushing loneliness.
Over the years, having made such good friends with myself and my uniqueness, I have come to cherish that which allows me to experience the all encompassing joys of deep absorption that many NT do not experience. I often feel a sense of sadness for some people I know who have never had that experience.