How do you prefer to define it?

I think it depends. I can understand that for some people, autism may be extremely debilitating to the point they simply cannot function without help and need full time support. However, when my daughter was diagnosed (and I self-diagnosed), I felt conflicted about referring to it as a disability or disorder - that implied something negative about my daughter, where actually she is happy in herself and faces some challenges instead. With me, I have never considered myself disabled/disordered - I simply have some inconveniences with my life which I push through (sometimes hard), I just happen to know what they are now.

I have also had a huge dollop of luck, which should not be overlooked, least of all by me.

Martin said:

I have had more difficulties, more exhaustion, more anxiety, and had to force myself into enduring many more deeply uncomfortable situations than the vast majority of allistics ever experience.

I may steal these words and reuse them at work next week.

Learning to understand this about ourselves and forgive ourselves for it is such a big personal development moment.

Martin said:

My autism has impaired my natural ability to do certain things, but I have used my intellect and some bloody hard work to cope with my impairments, if not overcome them. As a result my autism has not disabled me from achieving the things I really wanted to achieve.This has come at a price. I have had more difficulties, more exhaustion, more anxiety, and had to force myself into enduring many more deeply uncomfortable situations than the vast majority of allistics ever experience.

Yes! re your last line.

My autism has disabled me from achieving most things I really wanted to achieve, so we are different there.

I believe that, in the UK, autism (ASD) is classed as a disability under anti-discriminatory law, but, in order to gain disability benefits from the government, further assessment is required. So autism is a disability, but in practice may not be assessed as such in all cases. An autism diagnosis does not automatically give disabled status, except in the realm of discrimination.

Personally, I prefer the concept of autism as a condition, rather than a disorder, Given the extreme effort that most autistics make to ensure their world is as ordered as possible, calling us 'disordered' is something of a misnomer, if not an insult. As regards disability, again personally, I do not feel disabled. My autism has impaired my natural ability to do certain things, but I have used my intellect and some bloody hard work to cope with my impairments, if not overcome them. As a result my autism has not disabled me from achieving the things I really wanted to achieve.This has come at a price. I have had more difficulties, more exhaustion, more anxiety, and had to force myself into enduring many more deeply uncomfortable situations than the vast majority of allistics ever experience.

I agree with most of what Andy wrote, but I prefer neurodevelopmental difference .

I don't think our brains failed to develop in a "normal" way. I believe that autism is normal - we need all neurotypes to make our society thrive.

From what I've found in the eucap (European Council of Autistic People) in Spain disabilities are not recognised based on a diagnosis. As it says: "Instead of that, autistic people must pass a second evaluation of their disabilities and most of them don’t fit into any of the disability cases. Consequently, the autistic community must deal with their working life by themselves, without any help, support, or reasonable adjustments." 

So it seems in the UK are more advanced than in here. 

I'm from Spain. I will look it up, but I'm not sure of how it works.

Hi again Andy, thanks for the reply and your perspective. I think I agree with you, exactly as you said here

Andy said:

I dislike the word “disorder” because it makes it sound as if autism is a defect.

I will keep you posted about new questions or findings. 

odd.avocaddo said:

I think in my country works in a different way

What country arey you in?

I believe the US and most of europe will use similar equality laws now, although I hear Germany has some non progressive approaches to it.

Andy said:

many autistic people find the word “disorder” harmful because it implies that being autistic means something is “wrong” or “broken”

This is a tricky one as technically our brains failed to develop in a normal way.

The sensory filters failed to develop in our early years so there is an arguement that something "went" wrong with us, leaving us where we are now.

You could also argue we are a different evolutionary branch almost where we are able to maintain so much more sensory input than neurotypicals. The fact that it tends to cause most of us major amounts of pain or inconvenience could just be the teething pains of that evolution.

It depends on the "implications" which can swing both ways I supose.

I didn't know about Equality Act as I'm not from the UK and I think in my country works in a different way, but I appreciated it. 

As what you said

Iain said:

There is a saying that goes something like "when you have met one autist, you have met just one autist".

this is so true. I can also endure very hard environments and/or situations as I've been masking all my life, but obviously end up in burnout. Anyway, this has been so helpful to know. 

As an aside, even if you are classed as disabled it does not mean you are automatically unable to work, function in society etc.

There is a huge range of abilities and capabilities we have that mean there is no simple pidgeon hole to put us in.

I have developed coping mechanisms through my life and can endure huge amounts of distress and discomfort  that many other autists would struggle with, but that is just one person.

Some struggle with even the most basic of social interactions, any noisy / bright environments or other sensory rich environments but we are all still autists.

There is a saying that goes something like "when you have met one autist, you have met just one autist". It comes from us having a range of autistic traits at various levels (from the spectrum as you point out) so trying to find any generic categorisation for us will be very hard to do.

Medical professionals and diagnostic manuals often use the term “disorder” when describing autism. This language reflects a medical focus on diagnosing and categorising conditions based on difficulties or impairments. However, many autistic people find the word “disorder” harmful because it implies that being autistic means something is “wrong” or “broken”. Autism isn’t about being broken, it’s about our brains are just wired differently, and this can lead to some huge strengths, but also challenges. Imagine where the world would be at without autistic people!

When it comes to the term “disability”, my views is that opinions are more varied. In law, autism is recognised as a disability under laws like the Equality Act in the UK. This is important because it provides access to protections, accommodations, and services that can help manage barriers autistic people face. However, some argue that autism itself isn’t inherently disabling.  Rather, it’s the way society is structured that creates the challenges. 

Personally, I dislike the word “disorder” because it makes it sound as if autism is a defect. I’m comfortable with autism being called a disability because there will likely never be a world without barriers that disable autistic people. For example, sensory processing issues, communication differences, and executive functioning challenges can be significant in environments not designed with neurodivergence in mind.

When describing myself I often use “neurodivergent” or “neurological condition”. But everyone’s experience and preferences are different, and you’ll find a wide range of opinions in the autistic community.

Good luck with your research and advocacy work! 

odd.avocaddo said:

But I didn't think I would as I'm ASD level 1,

If you are diagnosed as autistic of any level then you are confirmed as disabled under the Equality Act.

One member of my family has a recognised disability because he has ASD level 3, which requires substantial support. But I didn't think I would as I'm ASD level 1, and even though I've struggled, in comparison it seemed very little. Thank you so much. 

odd.avocaddo said:

Do you know if the level of ASD you have influences in the categorisation as disabled?

If you are diagnosed as autistic then you are disabled by definition (ie when they test you it is to see if it impacts you severely enough to be disabled).

The levels are to describe what level of support you need with 1 being the lowest support needs and 3 the highest. It is described in detail here:

https://www.autismspeaks.org/levels-of-autism

Hi Lain, thank you for answering. That's something I wasn't aware of.

Do you know if the level of ASD you have influences in the categorisation as disabled? I know it's a spectrum but I'm not sure if that matters. 

odd.avocaddo said:

How do you feel regarding the word disability? Do you prefer to call it a disorder or a disability?

It is both a disorder (ie it means out brains developed and didn't develop the input filters NTs have) and a disability (at least a diagnosis is primarily to give you the categorisation as disabled so you can seek help accordingly.