do you consider autism to be a disorder or a mere neurotype?

Post Reply New Topic

This is a big topic in the autistic community on Twitter.

c) all of the above

Its both

Anyone claiming asd is not a disorder has never seen anyone severely disabled by the condition or is simply ignorent

It's presumably autistic people who are saying this. Mostly level 1's, probably.

Most likely, or at the very least, people who face little struggles directly related to their ASD combined with people who fail to see the struggles they face directly related to their ASD.

You know, the sort of folks who see their social impairments as proof they're the next stage of evolution.

No joke, one of these people made a post acting like the only social impairments that come with ASD are lack of eye contact and interrupting a lot.

Have they met other autistic people before?

Some traits can be disabling or not depending on how severe, for certain.

Special interests are generally considered "the good side" of autism, but for some they are so intense that they cause distress when separated. In my case, one of my special interests grew so intense that I developed a literal addiction to the dopamine rush it caused, and that ruined my mental health for up to 2 years.

Simply known as willful ignorance

They need the world to fit a narrative they bought into because it makes them feel better, so have to deny info that challenges that narrative.

Happens everywhere not just ASD

I'm about to live in an artificial womb, all my needs will be taken care of by someone else, technically my ASD will no longer be a disability just a difference

Yes.

My answer: I'll have to think about this and get back to you.

Another is both societal mores and actual impairments person here.

Most people want to think of conditions in binary terms. It's got to be Autism as a terrible disorder, or Autism is a superpower. Frustrating as hell.

Well it is called autism spectrum disorder, so I'll go by that.

As a level 1/high-functioning Aspie I still see autism as a disorder, disability even. If you need support you have to have a disability/disorder, they're not going to take you seriously if you just see it as a difference.

I've never seen my ASD as an ability or advantage even though I'm so high-functioning. My anxiety can be disabling too, but the government doesn't take anxiety seriously either as they seem to think the cure to anxiety is to take meds and "man up", but it's more than that for me. Having anxiety is no fun.

Even special interests have been a nuisance for me (more like obsessions for me). They took over my mind and distracted me from all the important things in life such as school, friends, employment, grades, etc. And I wasn't even happy with the obsession, plus it was over people, not anything interesting or intelligent. It was more like an impulsive addiction sort of obsession, not exactly a special interest.

A disorder, definitely.

I have ASD Level 1 and I need a substantial amount of support, so I don’t see how it can be called anything other than a disorder.

The difference narrative is also extremely unhelpful in a political context, such as forcing government to support Autistic people. The UK government’s latest welfare documents, for example, highlight the benefits of neurodivergence in the workplace. But there is only one motive behind this: to
push Autistic people into work in order to cut the welfare bill.

During a support group meeting an autism clinician said to us that Autistic special interests are something we enjoy, OCD is unwanted intrusive thoughts.

I've never had a special interest then. I used to write stories and draw pictures of the people I was obsessed with, and I enjoyed that as it passed the time and fed my obsession.