Published on 12, July, 2020
Monday I had an argument with the online ASD community I attend. As an older Aspie, I can say that ASD has completely ruined my life. I cannot count the many opportunities that I missed due to ASD.
That ASD community insists that ASD is a wonderful superpower, and if anyone has a problem is because society is not accepting it. They even disagreed with the acronym ASD since "autism is not a disorder", and insisted that ASD should not be treated since it's not an illness or a disability.
It's just me, or this point of view is becoming more and more common? Why so many people are starting to subscribe to that "social model" of ASD?
Consider, if you were in a band of hunter-gatherers of 30 or 40 people, people who you are mostly related to and that you know very well and who know you. Most of your time is spent however you want to spend it, you hunt, gather plantstuff, make tools, make clothing etc. when you need to, not otherwise. There is no 9 to 5 work, there is no such thing as work. In that situation, would your autism be any sort of disability? If the answer is no, then the 'societal model' of autism as a disability is true for you.