Would you want Aspergers to be classed a disability?

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Yes, at least as a legal thing. At one time while I was working, I don't know what I'd have done if AS hadn't been classed as a disability. I'd like it to continue that way because I expect it'll afford a degree of protection to many other ASDers who are in work. I just wish it were better recognised and respected as a disability. From what I've seen and personally experienced, the protective power of ASD as a disability label alone is somewhat limited in workplaces, education, and benefit-acquisition, but it's a start. It's a tricky business because it's a spectrum disorder, it's complicated, and it's "invisible," so it's hard to settle disputes about how much trouble the Big People need to go to in order to get the adjustments right. The most common thing I've seen from them (employers, education staff and benefits staff) is a tendency to tacitly ignore ASD and the legal rights associated with it.

For more social matters such as friendship and family life, I think it depends a lot on who the ASDer associates with. Some are constructive about it, some destructive, and with others the information just seems to go into one ear and out of the other.

Yes, but purely for selfish reasons. A lot of companies have a guaranteed interview scheme for people who have disabilities, which means I can get a guaranteed interview if I apply and them blow them away with my stunning lack of personality hahaha.

That's why there is a 'spectrum', it affects everyone in different ways, whilst keeping to the same theme of social awkwardness, taking things literally, and having a zombie-like personality until someone intervenes early or motivates you to change your ways or get out of your shell.

In the UK, I received the meaning of if I am disabled or not by trying to apply for disability benefits esa and pip (US equiv would be SSI), and true enough scored no points because the criteria asked if I had trouble preparing food, getting out of bed, taking care of oneself, which I undertake on a day-to-day basis more or less, but there was one point that I thought I would get (even though I would have failed the assessment anyway) which was communicating with people and I stated that I have social anxiety and that it's a major barrier to looking for work and staying in work. You can guess the rest.

Seeing the various cuts to welfare spending and recent news about them not counting mental health as a real barrier to working, the government doesn't see it - or the whole umbrella of mental health conditions - as a disability, and frankly neither do i. I realise i'm screwed but I just gotta make the most of what i've got.

I'd like it to be classified as a disability, because it is. I'd also like it to be classified as a disability, because there are issues that the majority of us face.

I thought Autism (which includes high functioning "Asperger's) was already classified as a disability in the United States?

I need for Asperger's/autism to be classed as a a disability. Without that classification, I wouldn't be entitled to any of the accommodations I need/have needed at work and school, which would create major problems for me.

I didn't think Aspergers can disable you, what makes you disable?

Last night I watched the film Mary and Max. If I am not mistaken Max (who had aspergers) disliked the term 'disability' as he saw himself as 'different' and not disabled.

I am a bit torn over the correct term. Although I accept that disability is a physical or mental impairment I don't feel comfortable with the label. In a legal sense, yes I think it should fall under that classification.

Hell, yes. Just because I have some exceptional abilities does not mean I'm not disabled socially. If it took me an hour to put my clothes on, I'd get help, but when it takes me all day to figure out what someone meant, there's none. My only productive periods have been when I could focus on what I did well, and trust the people around me to take care of the rest. I don't have a full set of skills, nor the ability to develop them. However, in the right situation, I'm a minor savant, and "disabled aid" groups are never set up with excellence in mind.
Still, Aspies were first defined as defectives who were worth saving from "the" holocaust, because they could be useful.

That's the way it is in the UK too, and so it should be, you should get benefits based on your individual abilities not your diagnosis. Especially for something like AS, it would be very hard indeed to get any benefits in the UK just with an AS diagnosis. There is still some relevance with it being classed as a disability though as it offers you legal protection against disability discrimination. Again if you feel you need that protection.

The trouble with institutional aid like this is the conflict of interest on both sides. Once I've claimed a disability, my living depends on not overcoming it, and there are aspects of my life that do fluctuate widely otherwise. On the government side, even a skilled, sincere therapist may be regarded as just another beancounter trying to earn a bonus for cost-cutting. There needs to be some tinkering done with incentives, perhaps by having aid workers compete to do the most good on a given budget, measured independently.

If I want Aspergers to be classified as a disability, then my own reasons for it would be too complicated to explain or justify.

It's more than just a social impairment. It's something else... That affects everything -- from social and personal behavior, sensory regulation and input, to executive functioning and processing.

And, it wouldn't be for myself.

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