Are we disabled?

I not telling you how to identify, I am just analysing the meaning of the word disabled.

Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information and also there are many different definitions of disabled, some of which are rooted in the social model of disability.

Hibernating said:

Have you: been to college, been in a relationship, had a job, had children, purchased a house, moved home, suffered bereavement, been in hospital, been institutionalised - done any of the things in life that bring great challenges for autistic people, in life (not online)?

I am much younger than you and therefore have not had some of these life experiences, but that doesn’t mean my perspective is not valid. Equally, some of these experiences such as bereavement for example would be traumatic for anyone regardless of neurotype however I am obviously aware we process everything including grief very differently from the predominant neurotype.

 I am not denying your experience, I am merely stating a different perspective that is one of the main reasons why we are part of this community to share experiences and perspectives and learn from each other.

Ausomely Autistic said:

I am not saying that people can’t identify as disabled

It's not 'identifying'.  It's what I am.

This sort of expression is very triggering and is negating us and our lifelong experiences.

Have you: been to college, been in a relationship, had a job, had children, purchased a house, moved home, suffered bereavement, been in hospital, been institutionalised - done any of the things in life that bring great challenges for autistic people, in life (not online)?

And of course for some people just getting out of bed in the morning is a challenge.

This isn't a theory, it's real life.

From Wikepedia:

"Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society."

Maybe getting more life experience and the massive challanges we face in life is the key to recognising how disabling autism can be even for those of us who would be classified as having lower support needs.

We need more support, not to be told that we aren't disabled and therefore support isn't required.

If I am in a stressful situation in public now I'm very happy to tell people I'm autistic.

I was in hospital recently having someone talking to me before shoving a tube down my throat and at the very same time another person was talking to me trying to put a needle in my hand.

I was glad to be able to say I can't cope with this at the same time because I'm autistic.

The autism disabled me in that situation and my blood pressure had rocketed.

Don't tell me I'm not disabled when I know that my autism has affected every area of my life and held me back in very many ways.

I have 60+ years of experience of this.

Some people think that they can cancel bad things just by censoring words that they do not like. 

Amerantin (former member) said:

I really hate this endless policing of language. Hate it.

As the man in the video said: "Denying our reality is an ableist form of toxic positivity”

Have you read the "1984" book? The book, not the movie. Orwell was a visionary, but almost everything he predicted ended up true

I think it depends on your definition of disabled. What is striking is how the environment I’m in can affect whether I feel disabled or not. I have previously worked in some labs where I did not feel at all like being autistic was disabling me in any way but recently in a different environment I do feel disabled at times. I think it really depends on what else is going on too, how overwhelmed I am etc. So I think sometimes I do feel disabled and broken but I don’t want to feel like this and I think the environment plays a huge role. I want to feel more empowered and positive about what I can achieve again, so I might need to change my mindset to not being disabled again

I don’t “identify” as disabled and I don’t define myself by any of this. I merely recognise that in certain quite fundamental and profound respects I am disabled.

Denying that being unable to participate in the most basic of human experiences - friendship and love - is a disability would be utterly self deceiving and would trivialise something that has ruined my life, and that of many others on this forum.

I am not saying that people can’t identify as disabled.

Not being able to form social relationships profoundly impacts my life.

My noise sensitivity negatively impacts my life.

My inability to separate voices in a crowded room impacts my life.

My variable focus profoundly impacts my job.

These are all consequences of autism and they are disabling.

No but it’s a natural part of life and the diversity of human brains is not comparable to death.

Physical disabilities are much more complex and nuanced than difficulty moving, for example aspects such as pain and fatigue or muscle weakness can be disabling.

So is dying.  So is being sick. So is feeling pain. Does that make these things good?

Neurodiversity is a natural part of human experience, in a similar way to biodiversity, gender diversity etc

Ausomely Autistic said:

for example physical disabilities are inherently disabilities

Are they inherently disabilities? If there was a society where walking wasn't integrated into the everyday life, someone who couldn't walk wouldn't be disabled. I am only contemplating.

In the examples given "dys" is the correct prefix chosen for an obvious reason: they apply to conditions that adversely affect the ability in question. There isn't a "positive" way to describe an impairment.

Just so you know I am not denying reality, I am just analysing the prefix of a word. Naturally us autistics are very analytical!

You are welcome, I am glad I helped you think about this!

 I am not saying that people can’t identify as disabled, for example physical disabilities are inherently disabilities, I am just analysing the actual meaning of the word.

I really hate this endless policing of language. Hate it.

As the man in the video said: "Denying our reality is an ableist form of toxic positivity”

Ausomely Autistic said:

Disability is naturally a negative word given the prefix. Any word starting with the prefix ‘dis’ is inherently negative meaning difficulty or inability.

I hadn't thought that. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

How are we to know whether members of our fellow neurokin currently answering the original question wouldn’t identify with such support needs?

Equally, ‘high support needs’ is usually an inaccurate way of describing members of our community whose support needs actually derive from co-occurring experiences such as apraxia, learning disability, epilepsy, mental health needs etc…

For example, many members of our community who would be considered to have high support needs are nonspeakers because of apraxia not simply because they are autistic.

Hibernating said:

It would be good if autistic people with high support needs were able to answer this.

FH said:

Unless you dont see a single disadvantage with your autism?

I don’t, being autistic means I am a very passionate, motivated, autodidactic and analytical person who can show such empathy to my fellow neurokin! Being autistic enables me, it gives me complete purpose in my life and huge satisfaction being part of my autistic community.

Disability is naturally a negative word given the prefix. Any word starting with the prefix ‘dis’ is inherently negative meaning difficulty or inability.

Take for example, these words and current names for neurotypes below:

Disappointment 

Distress

Dyslexia

Dyspraxia

etc….

This is naturally an autistic literal interpretation, however I hope it conveys my point as this prefix ‘dis’ and other variations are inherently negative.