How Serious Is Autism To You?

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Oh, the many times the blind man has joked to me about his blindness... And oh no, the poor blind man even said to me that to him blindness is just what he is. But that's not real, serious blindness then!

Could it be that the need for accommodations is not the same as viewing life as utterly problematic and seriously hard and that to accept and live with what you got, is not the same as downplaying or being a wannabe?

And EzraS, you might be the luckier one in some other eyes. A teen with muscular dystrophy who has lost all ability to move and breathe on his own and who at your age is facing death, might wonder what's the problem here...

Or... he might think that despite all he faces, he loves being himself. He might even think that personal struggles are always personal struggles. You can't measure and compare pain.

When facing death the hardest thing to let go might not be comparisons or lost opportunities, but that simple beauty and love that surrounds us and doesn't separate.

I would say it is most definitely a disorder and disability, I am not happy with where I am in life and haven't been able to interact properly with other people even to the point that it hurts myself. Self advocacy has always been a huge issue for me, I'm just not as strong or smart as some people might think I am and the deficits have left me with a profound sense of humiliation. The only positive in my entire life that I can attribute to it is that it probably kept me out of trouble with the wrong crowd when I was younger when so many have succumb to drug addiction, getting drugs actually requires some social interaction on your end. The rest has all been pain and suffering, I try so hard and put so much pressure on myself to further myself that it hurts and the idea that these issues may never be solved deeply upsets and disturbs me. I lean too heavily on the internet, it is no replacement for real human interaction and relationships so I hope that I can get to a place where you'd have something to hold on to for but it's so hard when you feel (and quite frankly are in many regard) inadequate to the outside world. I would say it is serious to the point that while I am so scared of dying and hurting myself, I still think about it constantly and there have been moments where I haven't been able to stop that inner monologue of terrible thoughts. I will say life does change a lot over the course of 5 or 10 years, I couldn't have predicted anything back that long ago so who knows about the future. I do feel I have some optimism left, that my spirit hasn't been completely crushed yet, but it's scary and everyone has a limit and I don't know what that is.

I see autism as a natural difference to be accepted and as a significant disability.

Whether it needs to be cured, or treated in any way, or just accomodated and otherwise left alone, is an individual thing.

I think disability is harder on very young people who have their whole life ahead of them.
But you can learn to accept yourself the way you are.
Someone once told me that at the end of your life all you have is memories, and you want those memories to be happy ones.

I have experienced extreme anxiety, ocd, sensory problems and I wouldn't change it for the world. I would never wish for a cure. I am who I am and I love myself for that. There are people out there without aspergers who are worse off. http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/09/ ... -by-a-lion

From the outside my autism isn't necessarily obvious to others, but to me it is very serious because I know I am operating within set parameters. If I venture outside of these, or am pushed outside of them, I cannot function and my life falls apart around me. Part of the reason I do not disclose my HFA is that I am worried people would not believe me or consider it to be serious; after all I have a job, I'm studying, I have interests and I'm friendly enough. What they don't know- what I didn't know until I tried to live on my own- is that I can't cope with things normal people can cope with. I can be as smart as I like but I can't stop a melt/break/shutdown if it happens to me, so while I don't impose any limitations on my ambition in life, I know it might be harder for me at times to do the 'little' things other people do naturally.

I do describe my autism as 'difference' sometimes, but that's not to disparage the more serious traits that it comes with. I could try and articulate every difficulty I face, but often it's easier to ambiguously say 'I'm different' and let people put the pieces together for themselves. Being significantly 'different' can be a very serious matter; I rarely feel connected to anything around me and the separation I feel from society and my environment results in depression and a lot of other messed up and miserable things.

And I wouldn't cure it if I could. I think of it this way: I have a host of mental issues, HFA, anxiety, depression etc. that are pervasive in my mind and how I view the world. The person I am is made of experiences and understandings seen through the lens of these disorders. If I try to imagine myself without them, I cannot, because they are part of (if not all of) me.

For me personally, this is my autism in a nutshell. I don't think any of my attributes or things about myself I hold dear are attached to it at all. It's just a major obstacle.

To me, a disability means that your abilities don't match up with what nature provided (e.g. you have legs, legs are capable of walking, but you are not able to walk). Most of the problems that are caused by my disabilities are still a problem with plenty of understanding and accommodation.

In a mostly autistic society:
• Being overly social would be a problem for extroverts in an introvert society, regardless whether they were neurotypical or autistic.

• Personally, it would not matter how much eye contact they make; I make no eye contact, so I would not notice. Are other autistics who make eye contact bothered by how much eye contact neurotypicals make?

• Personally, I have no nonverbal cues; I am always verbally direct, so there is no confusion. Do other autistics who use nonverbal cues use unique nonverbal cues that could be confused?

• Understimulation and sensory seeking are part of sensory processing disorder. Neurotypicals (people without sensory processing disorder) are able to adapt to most levels of stimulation.

Oh goodness, I have anxiety and it's never been that bad and mine was also considered severe in middle school. It's gotten better now because I am less anxious than I used to be.

Interesting. I don't understand that philosophy whatsoever



I've been suffering extreme anxiety over school. Like my autism, I want it to go away. I enrolled in hybred schooling so that I can do it at home the days I'm unable to make it like a couple of days ago. And I only go four days a week.

Last edited by EzraS on 21 Sep 2016, 2:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

If I didn't have aspergers good bye special interest.

I honestly think certain shades of Autism are natural and that is why opinions are all over the place.

From my perspective - my Autism IS my perspective and I would not want to change that. HOWEVER my sensory processing disorder can get out of control and when that happens I am often stuck and cannot go out into the world so I become disabled. Luckily I work from home but I realize not everyone can have this luxury - it took me many years to find the "perfect" job for me.

I do NOT think Autism itself is a disability however there are disability that Autistic people are more prone to having. Below are my autism related disabilities.

Sensory Processing Disorder
Alexithymia
Bowel Distress
Insomnia
Social Anxiety (mostly from being undiagnosed and trying to blend in most of my life)
Working memory - DOES NOT WORK but I have tricks to get around it
Mirror Touch Synesthesia - this is also cool sometimes so I like it and would keep it but it can disable me
I also have balance and dept perception issues.
OCD - not severe but it does slow me down and can cause frustration when interrupted - also this can be an asset to me

My disabilities are related to my autism but - to me - my Autism is my perspective and way of experiencing the world. The way I see things because of my SPD, visual thinking, etc. I am more introverted than the non-Aspies around me. I stop and think about things and they just act and are irrational. love that part about who I am and don't want to loose it.

HOWEVER I think those things are because my family has SO much Autism that I was doomed to have these issues. If two moderately affected Autistic people reproduce and have children they may have an Autistic child... so here I am.

Looking back generations in my family I can see Autism (we were GREAT record keepers). It seems to have been a natural alternative state of being at one time but we are more sensitive to our environment. Maybe that is why we have so many illnesses.

I HAVE to do everything organic or I get sick.

What do you mean by working memory?

I don't understand how one would not have special interests without autism.

One of the primary ways to tell if someone has autism/aspergers is that they have a special interest. We are more focused on a topic then most nt's. If you cured someone with aspergers there focus on that special interest would go away. Now there are exceptions but for the vast majority of people with aspergers there is a special interest.

I know NT's with very strong "special interests."

I knew one who spent the whole day reading racing forms so he can bet on horses. He was obsessed with odds, and the horse racing community in general.