• Replies 44 replies
  • Subscribers 94 subscribers
  • Views 2452 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Why is Autism considerd a disorder?

James19932024

i may have been asked already, but why is Autism considerd a disorder / condition? to me at least, a disorder, is something to do with mental health. instead of a disorder / condition, its an advantage because we're able to see and expereince things that other cannot

Parents

  • 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?

  • in reply to Lotus

    There's been research into the potential 'stone age origins' of autism, with parallels identified between paleolithic cave art and the drawings of autistic children. The Stone Age Origins of Autism | IntechOpen I think in a hunter-gatherer culture having advanced observational skills and excellent recall would be a positive advantage. 

Reply Children
  • in reply to Deleted User

    I agree Martyn they would. Although I wonder how much of this isn't that we're different as such, but that most modern people are so used to not doing things, we don't have to remember things like phone numbers because the phone rembers them for us, we don't have to memorise routes or learn how to navigate by landscape features because we have satnavs.

    I think a lot of the skills modern people think of as extraordinary would be normal in a stone age environment.

    I had a quick scan through the article and noticed it mentioned how some people with mental illnesses would be seen as Shamans,but I think this is an over simplification of how long it takes to learn to be a shamen, its something you'd probably be seen as having an aptitude for in childhood and training would begin around the age of 7-8. I don't think you could just rock up  in the midst of a psychotic episode and have everyone think the spirits/gods etc were talking to you. Shamanism is a skill and it's not all dancing about and talking to the ancestors, it's learning how to keep yourself and your community safe from spiritual attack, about how to heal, how to diagnose, how to devine, so many things.