Why is Autism considerd a disorder?

I understand that an autism diagnosis is only given when a person is considered to be disabled by their autistic traits, so I looked up the definition of disabled.

A disability according to the UK equality act is an impairment that has a long term adverse effect on your ability to do normal day to day activities. It doesn't have to stop you doing things completely, just makes them harder - for example if someone cannot go to the shops alone or has problems socialising. 

People who have type 1 insulin dependent diabetes are considered disabled, because they cannot live healthy lives without insulin. Modern society doesn't make them disabled. But I feel that most of the disability experienced by autistic people is caused by society disabling them.

For example:

Sensory issues - would these be a problem if we lived in a more primitive way amongst the sounds of nature? With clothes made from soft cotton or furs and no stitched on tags?

Trouble socialising - would that exist if we lived in extended family groups or tribes where we felt secure and could contribute with our specialist skills - maybe pottery making or animal tracking?

Trouble with executive function - is that due to the stresses of modern society and having to remember so much stuff like passwords?

Trouble going to the shops alone - in a primitive society there were no shops and everyone went to places in groups for security.

Any other ideas?

I think we would just find the isses were different:

Lotus said:

Sensory issues - would these be a problem if we lived in a more primitive way amongst the sounds of nature? With clothes made from soft cotton or furs and no stitched on tags?

Most primitive fabrics are quite coarse, probably badly fitting and lacking in modern washing techniques to make them feel softened or even that well cleaned.

Lotus said:

Trouble socialising - would that exist if we lived in extended family groups or tribes where we felt secure and could contribute with our specialist skills - maybe pottery making or animal tracking?

I think you would find quite different stressers there - tribal leaders often were more draconian in their implementation of their rules which were subject to their whims. This lack of certainty would be a challenge.

Smaller groups would require the constituents to perform a wider range of tasks and adapt to the demands of the hour, the lack of consistency and need to perform under pressure would also suck.

Lotus said:

Trouble with executive function - is that due to the stresses of modern society and having to remember so much stuff like passwords?

You would need to know how to take a pile of wool and make it into a dress for example, how to take a fish, clean  gut it, season and cook it and not kill people with food poisoning along the way, how to mend a hole in the roof or set a broken bone in a childs leg  - the lack of specialists to do some of these tasks means you would have to be able to cope with them often alone.

I don't think it would make for any sort of utopia - just different stuff that we would soon enough run into problems with.

Maybe we could like in a world where AI does all the hard work in conjunction with robots and we get to live a life of stres free relaxaton. What could be better?

Put me in the woods in a remote place with just the dog and I'm at home, especially in the dark without a torch and barely any light, I notice things even he doesn't, (he's a working spaniel so he's pretty sharp) I usually spot the pheasant or other animal he's looking for well before he does and we both stop and look at the same slight sounds that mean someone or something is close. I can feel that it's about to rain well before it does, sensing difference in temperature and wind that others just don't take notice of.

Put me in society and all those senses and instincts work against me.i notice everything, every sound is a trigger to defences, every social signal I completely miss or miss understand.

It's obvious where I was "designed to be".

I do however like being social and in amongst the herd, it's just so hard!

Put me in the woods in a remote place with just the dog and I'm at home, especially in the dark without a torch and barely any light, I notice things even he doesn't, (he's a working spaniel so he's pretty sharp) I usually spot the pheasant or other animal he's looking for well before he does and we both stop and look at the same slight sounds that mean someone or something is close. I can feel that it's about to rain well before it does, sensing difference in temperature and wind that others just don't take notice of.

Put me in society and all those senses and instincts work against me.i notice everything, every sound is a trigger to defences, every social signal I completely miss or miss understand.

It's obvious where I was "designed to be".

I do however like being social and in amongst the herd, it's just so hard!