Is asperger necessarily a disability?

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Some years ago, a psychiatrist said I was asperger. Later, I read some articles about asperger, and its clear that psychiatrists think almost everything that AS people do is wrong, bad , disabled, and need to be fixed. But I dont want to change my asperger traits. I went to psychiatrist because I was depressed, and I was depressed for other reasons.

The psychiatrists also dont believe me when I say that I dont want to make more friends and have a bigger social circle. They think that I stay alone because Im ""disabled" , deficient, dont have social skills and empathy, even when I say otherwise. This make me question if im really asperger or if im just asperger like , and the psychiatrist just think im asperger because she thinks that if I prefer to stay alone, thus I lack social skills.

Theres an article that discuss if Asperger should necessarily be viewed as a disability.
Its the first article that tries to describe asperger without judgment , without calling asperger behavior wrong or worse than most people´s behavior. Its an old article, but it makes very interesting reflections . It points how flawed is the psychiatrist logic that if the asperger person wants to be alone, this means that this person lacks social skills.

Another argument to call AS a disability is because they cant tell what other people are feeling by looking at their faces. But I scored average in a test to tell what people are feeling just by looking at their eyes. Generally, im able to make reasonable predictions of people´s behaviors, but i dont care for what they are thinking. I have theory of mind, I have cognitive empathy, I never needed help from the govnerment. There isnt anything that most people can do , and I cant, so why should I be called disabled?

How about you? Do you view yourselves as disabled?

Welcome to WP

There are many misnomers, event among professionals, about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). So if they were trying to insist things like "you don't have empathy", then they weren't very knowledgeable about the ASD. Unfortunately uneducated professionals are not uncommon.

Likely when you were diagnosed, Aspergers was still considered separate from autism, but they have since been merged into ASD.

Each of us is different, and so some of us will be more disabled by ASD than others. There was a time when I would have leaned towards the belief that ASD was not a disability for me (I felt my physical issues were, but not ASD). Over the years as I have learned more about it and how it affects me, I have shifted my belief. I now accept that it is one of my disabilities, because I see that it impairs me even among other austistics, and also when I'm alone (such as issues with sensory overload and executive functioning). That said, It will be up to the individual to determine if it impairs them as well. So in time you can decide for yourself, or even change your mind later on.

Is Asperger's Syndrome necessarily a disability? I don't think so.

DISCLAIMER: I knew almost nothing about autism and Asperger's syndrome until 2019 and I don't think I'd ever even heard of an Autism Spectrum. Only early in 2019 did I even entertain the thought that I might be autistic and begin learning about it.

But, with the benefit of my recently gained interest in ASD and my long oblivious life with it--I pretty much agree with AuroraBorealisGazer's comments. I think different people experience different degrees of disability due to Asperger's Syndrome and, even for one individual, the degree of disability can change over time.

And I don't think I am currently disabled. I look good on paper. I married in 2000. My second retirement was in 2011. And it was not until 2019 that I was formally diagnosed as ASD-1--shortly before my 65^th birthday--and I don't see how I could claim that I am currently disabled by ASD. I officially have differences that meet the U.S. criteria for ASD-1 (and from 1994 until 2013 Asperger's Syndrome). Those differences might impair my ability to socialize and communicate with NTs in a manner they prefer but (1) I don't care and (2) those differences don't impair my ability to enjoy retirement. I'm used to my quirks and I mostly think in terms of the unofficial diagnosis that applied to me before 1994: I'm different.

A true disability should have only disadvantages, and not advantages. I think asperger or mild autism bring me many advantages, specially in this pandemic world. Most people cant just stay at home or in places with few people. They are going mad because they need many people around them. There should be a new normal, but most people cant adapt to it, and they are spreading covid and killing their grandmothers.

I dont need many people around me, I have hyper focus on pokemon, so if I have to stay home and play pokemon until 2022, I will happily do so. Most people need a variety of different things to entertain themselves, and will suffer from boredom if they dont find many different things to do.

A disability should bring more disadvantages than advantages. But I think it brings me more advantages. So, its more like a difference. All differences bring advantages and disadvantages. Example: people with black skin are less likely to get sun burn and skin cancer, but produce less vitamin D. White people burn their skin more easily, but produce more vitamin D. Unfortunatelly , many people are unfair to black people. But the racist people are the problem, not the black people. This is true even if there are more racists than black people. Black people shouldnt be labeled as disabled because racist people wont give a job to them.

Just because in a very limited context one's disability offers an advantage doesn't mean it isn't still a disability by most reasonable measures.

Autism doesn't stop me from doing things, but it makes some of them harder than they need to be.

I think this is how I felt for most of my life even before I knew anything about autism. (I still don't know if I am on the spectrum or not for sure, but if I am not I am certainly a BAP because of the traits and the shutdowns.

Am I dissabled? Difficult question... It is hard to say. Up until the last few burnouts, I would say that as long as I am not shut down I am not, but if I am shut down I am 100% dissabled, and deeper partial shutdowns would probably send me into the 40% to 60% area.
But the rest of the time I would say I am not. BUT, in certain situations when anxiety hits I am.
It is difficult to estimate because my body itself works fine. It is my mind controlling it that shuts down and when it shuts down even partially, it stops me having my body functioning at 100%, so I end up with problems which effect what I can do. For example, if I have a partial shutdown I can drive and be in control of the car (Driving normally relaxes me), but if I park the car and then try to walk, that is when it hits me.
In another way I can be effected especially since the last burnout and since the covid restrictions have hit, and that is my ability to go into shops. Some small shops I am ok with, but the larger shops... Well. An example. I have been waiting a year for a shop I go in to have the shoes I want in stock. Each time I have been in they have either not had them, or they had already sold the ones in my size. Ok, my shoes look tatty and the grip is dissapearing but I am not desperate yet. Other makes... I dare not try as I have tried but they don't last or I am not so comfortable etc.
Anyway. My nephew said they sold them in a sports store in my local town. So I drove and parked. I went to use the outside entrance at the one side of the building but the doors were closed due to covid rules. So I went in to the shopping centre side and was met by either a lift, or a pair of moving stairs (One up, one down).
I am petrified of small lifts so thzt is not an option. Moving stairs I can do if they are only going up, but due to balance I can't do down moving stairs. Normal stairs I am fine with. But no normal stairs. I could not go in. I could not even get to speak to staff to ask if they could open the entrance as clothing areas of stores are a trigger for shutdowns due to the smell of the dyes in new clothes (Carpet stores have the same smells). So any store selling clothes or soaps etc, I have to make sure that I avoid those areas unless I can quickly rush to an exit to get out. So I can't risk going up those moving stairs to ask for a suitable way out, as if I have to pass clothes first and I start to partially shut doen I have to get out quick on the limited power I have to move my muscles as if I fully shut down I am on the floor unable to move or speak or see in an almost paralysed state, and the only way to avoid repeat shutdowns when I recover is to get out of there! If Ican't I will keep having repeat shutdowns.
So in this way I have a dissability as I can't buy shoes. (I don't do online trading as I am a bit too gullable and have been scammed before, so I can't take the risk).

Another way I have a dissability is when anxiety hits I need to drink lots of water or cola. This means I need to go from toilet to toilet if I travel. After 5pm around here all toilets close in the towns and they had a scheme for pubs to let people use their toilets. I don't go in pubs as I am a bit too nurvous and pubs are crowded etc... So I can't travel at all in certain directions if I am out travelling. Other directions in the countryside I almost know every hedge one can hide behind from here in the south to the north of Wales! Besides. In those areas some village toilets do remain open and I know them.
Now the official response is if someone has a dissability they keep the dissabled toilets unlocked but one needs a dissability key. To get one one has to be classed as having a dissability, as though they can be bought, if one gets caught using one without an official dissability one can be in trouble.
I have been behind buildings and various other places and nearly got caught relieving myself! If I don't I start to go weak and shaky and I am in trouble.
So in this way too one could say I can be quite restricted in where I can travel after 5pm.

I believe you are confusing introvert tendancies with autism traits. There are many autistic extroverts who desire social interaction, even if they struggle with it.

If I think about it, I can come up with many advantages to my physical disabilities, but those positives do not cancel out it's disabling effects.

As I said, it's up to you to decide whether or not you're disabled by ASD. Lumping others into that decision is not appropriate.

I recommend that you take the time to learn more about ASD, how it effects you, and how it affects others in all areas of the spectrum. Hanging around here and hearing the perspectives of others in the various threads can provide some valuable insight.

This really pisses me off. Look at Dr. Temple Grandin!! !! How the heck is this woman disabled?! A LOT of PhD's are on the spectrum. I don't know where the disability lies. Does it matter? NT's who talk incessantly about each other and everything really appear strange to me. I mean what can you possibly talk about day after day and all day long? I think there is something wrong with them. Do they get much work done while yack, yack, yacking? They need to SHUTDA F UP!!

That's not up to you to decide.

People with PhDs can be disabled by ASD. Implying otherwise is akin to saying that disabled people can't drive cars.

As far as Aspergers being a disability there is disagreement about what Aspergers is, and what disabled means. The most common definition of disability the disability hurts your ability to function in society. Some as argued above that it is societal judgments that "disables" aspies. The lack of eye contact will hurt your ability to function in America but in some cultures, eye contact is considered rude. So lack of eye contact is a disabling trait in America but not in other cultures? That is why I prefer saying a lack of eye contact is a disadvantage similar in the way that is being any type of minority is a disadvantage.

As for Aspergers in my case, some traits are purely a disadvantage in other environments they would not be a problem but some traits are truly disabling. I can not envision my executive dysfunctions such as poor planning and poor time management would not hurt my ability to function in any environment.

Also, most asperger traits are only a problem because of the discrimination of the other people. At least here in Brazil, a trait cant be considered a disability if the problems it causes are because the discrimination of other people. So, for example, a gay cant be considered disabled because being gay hurts his ability to function on society.

Perhaps the best thing for you would be to see a specialist to determine whether or not you are infact autistic. Understand that merely reading about autism will not sufficiently provide you with the necessary insights. I say this as someone who started off many years ago having just read up on it, and believing that my issues wouldn't exist if it weren't for society. However, through the years I have come to realize that I struggle with these things while interacting with other austistics and even alone. So I now know that while discrimination against us does occur, there's much more to it than that. Of course, if you don't have any of the defining characteristics, but are simple introverted, this won't apply.

[quote="Vivianalves"
How about you? Do you view yourselves as disabled?[/quote]

Yes and no. Low EQ, High IQ.

I experience the disability side of my AS mainly as "spoons" - I get horribly drained by everyday tasks like cleaning, shopping and most social interactions.
On the other hand, solving abstract problems is relatively easy for me - and fun.

I was diagnosed with PDD-NOS, not Aspergers. I don't know if that matter should or not for this conversation. Figured I would mention it though. If I could be bothered to go see someone now and get reevaluated, I'd likely get an ASD level 2 diagnosis. For me, many of my autism traits are problematic enough in my day to day life that I would call it a disability. The amount of effort I need to put in to day to day life just to be able to function...it's a lot. I still need help on top of that. I can't work, some days I can't effectively communicate or drive. Some days I can barely think and function. That said, it's not all bad. When my coping skills are on point, and I can do what I need to do, my life is amazing and I am content. I'm still disabled though.

It is funny. Though I know it is not intentional, even in this conversation I find myself thinking that I am excluded.
I say this because when I speak or write, I naturally will look to see if I get a reply so I know that I have said the right thing, as if I don't get a reply I assume that what I have said is irrelevent somehow.
My life tends to be living like I am slightly out of tune to the rest of society. (Think of a radio). It is like when I talk, people hear me but most people don't reply to me but if another speaks they reply. It is as if I am not there. Yet if I then get bored and walk off ecause what is the point of just standing there doing nothing, people get upset and say it is rude to leave in the middle of a conversation. What conversation though if no one is taking any notice of me?

This is a pattern I have seen in my life where I just stand there getting bored, but I have to pretend I am not bored, because if someone notices that I get bored and start daydreaming or looking at other things I get a lot of flak ans am told off.

Is this a dissability? I don't know! I honestly do not know because my brain works. My body works... I just seem to be tuned into a different wavelength.