Autism Spectrum Disorder or Austism Spectrum Condition?

I can relate to that myself.

I can relate to that myself.

I agree we are very vulnerable. Throughout my life looking back I can now see how I was controlled and subsequently abused. I felt trapped in situations because of the fear of the unknown and it was that fear that kept me in those situations for way longer that I should have been. I am very trusting and take what is said to me to be true. How I coped with that is I no longer trust anyone (except my partner) and try to analyse what NT's agenda are. It is a very lonely place to be.

I'm similar to Amerarntin, for those of us who are "high functioning" and I guess that includes me, we don't really get help, I've been told that people don't understand what I need, when what they actually mean is, you don't fit the autistic stereotype.

AA I did have a look at your link, not a long one admitedly, but the chap was American, not that theres anything wrong with that, except that when in the UK trying to use works such as his to health professionals to aid their understanding dosen't work. Health professional only work with whats been approved in this country, even when new work comes from good uni's abroad. Also I find a lot of non UK based research unhelpful to me as it's terms of reference are for its home country not mine.

I'm also unsure of how the terms under the umbrella are actually helpful, do they not mean that people with different conditions will be treated the same?

Both my pets are ND, my cat is extra social and my dog is autistic + anxiety.

I agree with this but as a counter argument, the enlargement of the scope of “autism” to cover everything from very profound disability to people who are only slightly affected is perhaps also unhelpful.

I can talk most of the time, I am independent, I have no intellectual impairment. So I would be viewed as “high functioning” I suppose and zero support has been provided to me. And I understand the need to focus resources on those unable to look after themselves.

But I am increasingly realising that I am profoundly socially disabled, which has ruined my life. But because my autism looks “mild” from the outside I have been left to rot on my own.

TheCatWoman said:

Thanks for that, I must admit to finding it all very confusing, especially as the terms vary from country to country and people can get very upset if you use the wrong term.

You are welcome! I understand that, learning the language of a new paradigm can take quite a while.

TheCatWoman said:

I'm starting to think that diversity is becoming an over used word, everybody seems to diverge somewhere along the line, leading to such things as "everybodies on the spectrum somewhere", which is usally used as a term to shut people up.

Such phrases are incredibly dismissive of our autistic experience and show that the person who thinks that doesn’t really know what being autistic means. I understand your point, diversity is after all a natural part of all human experiences.

TheCatWoman said:

I was aware that autistics have more brain connectivity and that we experience things more intensely. What I'm particularly interested in is the sample sizes used. So many studies use tiny samples of people and draw massive conclusions from them that effect policy making in both health and government.

I am not sure about sample sizes for such studies.

It’s a condition currently, I believe..

Thanks for that, I must admit to finding it all very confusing, especially as the terms vary from country to country and people can get very upset if you use the wrong term.

I'm starting to think that diversity is becoming an over used word, everybody seems to diverge somewhere along the line, leading to such things as "everybodies on the spectrum somewhere", which is usally used as a term to shut people up.

I was aware that autistics have more brain connectivity and that we experience things more intensely. What I'm particularly interested in is the sample sizes used. So many studies use tiny samples of people and draw massive conclusions from them that effect policy making in both health and government.

TheCatWoman said:

Are there brains that are neurodiverse but not autistic?

Neurodivergent is an identity that anyone who diverges from neuronormativity can adopt and embrace. Yes absolutely, this is why it’s so important to not use the word neurodivergent as a synonym for autistic/ADHD people which is unfortunately quite common.

Neurodivergent people include us (and others such as dyslexic, dyspraxic, Tourette’s, tic, sensory processing differences, learning disabilities, synaesthesia, misophonia etc we are innately neurodivergent and also neurodivergent people who have acquired their neurodivergence so for example, people with mental health needs including OCD, depression, anxiety, bipolar etc and also people with dementia, Parkinson’s and acquired brain injury as the brain structure has quite literally changed and therefore they diverge from neuronormativity. 

I think you are using the word neurodiverse to mean neurodivergent, am I right? Neurodiverse is used to describe a group of people where multiple neurotypes are represented for example dyslexic, dyspraxic, OCD and neurotypical. So, for example a classroom of students is neurodiverse. Neurodivergent is in contrast used to describe individuals who diverge from neuronormativity.

Here is a link to a graphic which explains my point:

TheCatWoman said:

Do we actually know what a neurotypical brain looks like compared to a neurodiverse one?

No, but we do know specifically for us autistic people that there is some hyper connectivity in certain brain regions which is a very plausible explanation for why we often experience the world very intensely. Also, us autistic people process 42% more information than non autistic people at resting rate.

For more information on language related to neurodiversity, you may be interested in this link below:

neuroqueer.com/.../

Do we actually know what a neurotypical brain looks like compared to a neurodiverse one?

Are there differences between neurodiverse brains? I was thinking high and low functioning autism, although thats a term I'm uncomfortable with, as I think I'm a bit of both, there are somethings I do really well at and others I'm complete rubbish at and don't function.

Are there brains that are neurodiverse but not autistic?

Not as many as one might expect.  A captain of our team (Temple Grandin) is an aspie with extreme skill and proven competency in this rather niche field....I would trust her with me bulls!

So

Now me brain has gone "I wonder how many mentally unwell animals has one eaten in a lifetime"

If we are talking about a wider range of animals.

I'd have a lot more luck fighting the "disordered" label if I could just get organised...

I have wondered about this myself, and concluded that in all probability....yes, there are aspie dogs and cats.  There are CERTAINLY mentally unwell animals, and animals with developmental delay.....and I have met pathologically psychotic animals before......so with that sort of range, I see no reason why aspie isn't part of it. 

I suspect she might be right!  See above.

Do you know the Roman origins of "wrong end of the stick"?  It's a bit of a poo-ie explanation !!

Ausomely Autistic said:

We can still recognise that different humans need different support and environments to thrive

It's not about what you (the individual/group) alone think.

To be able to jump or at least walk around the many hurdles life encompasses it is the view of governments and institutions that directly affects our lives that matters.

If an autistic person wants to apply for financial benefits they need to be able to show how their autism makes them unable to perform certain functions without support.

Ausomely Autistic said:

It’s a similar concept to how in the natural world we recognise that different animals live in different habitats and this amongst many other factors contributes to biodiversity.

This won't pay the bills, get you a carer or special accommodations in the workplace.

Debbie said:

What worries me with this is that people who are actually disabled by autism might end up not getting the support they need.

We can still recognise that different humans need different support and environments to thrive without labelling people as disordered.

It’s a very basic fact that all humans are different, so by recognising this we can appreciate the neurodiversity of the human population. It’s a similar concept to how in the natural world we recognise that different animals live in different habitats and this amongst many other factors contributes to biodiversity.

TheCatWoman said:

I don't like the term disorder, I'm not disordered I'm autistic, maybe neurodiverse is better, but then everyone diverse, maybe we can move towards something that recognises people being people rather than boxes to be slotted in?

Thanks to the growing understanding of the neurodiversity movement and paradigm autistics like us can now identify as neurodivergent. 

Anyone whose brain diverges from neuronormativity can identify as neurodivergent.