Do You feel Being Called Disabled Insulting?

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why?

I think the person I quoted struggled twofold, first with the concept that you pointed out: the spectrum of disability, and secondly with the fact that not every autistic can transcend the limits of their disorder. I can't say how much the latter mentality bothers me. They completely disregarded the fact that most autistics do need a great deal of help, simply so that they could feel empowered by rejecting the label.

I find the concept of Autistic people who are not disabled a bit confusing. I understand that there are lots of Autistic people who do not think of themselves as disabled and who manage to do pretty well in their lives and some manage to do very well. But it confuses me because in order to get the Autistic diagnosis your Autistic traits and symptoms must be impairing in your daily life. And that is what disabled means. You can't get the diagnosis if you are not impaired by Autistic traits and symptoms. So for someone to be diagnosed Autistic and not be disabled is confusing to me.

Yes. I've had some impressive successes, but I just never seem to be able to build on those in a professional or business sense. A good friend recently told me I was like Mozart--if he had remained permanently ten years old, and without his father to provide him with the aristocratic connections and public exposure that made him rich and famous.

No.

IMHO, autism is a disability; therefore, I am disabled.

What's insulting to me is the way some people react to the concept of "disability," and act like death would be preferable over being "disabled."

No. There's nothing wrong with being disabled. It's not a value judgment or an implication that you are inferior to others. It just means you have more trouble with certain things.

Go ahead.

Describe WP as a support site for folks with a disability.

If anyone who has a problem with that ..its their problem.

I also find it somewhat puzzling. Many autistics I've come across are extremely high-functioning without any support - they really can do anything a neurotypical can. The difference, they say, is that it's harder for them to do it. And that must warrant a diagnosis, I suppose, since they receive them. Surely those Aspies who manage to attend university without accommodations and manage a fulfilling social life aren't disabled, though. So unless I'm willing to doubt their diagnosis, I have to accept the notion that to be autistic a person doesn't have to be disabled. It does irk me a little, but plenty of autistics are lower-functioning than I am. Perhaps they would be inclined to feel the same way about my functioning level and diagnosis.

I think that is a big problem. It is difficult for many people to accept the word "disability" because they automatically put such a negative vibe on it. Disabled is neither positive nor negative, it just is. It is kind of like if I had a broken leg. If I had a broken leg, I would need accommodations to move around and do what I need to do. I would need crutches or whatever I would need. I might need a different desk at school or at work. I might need to be allowed more time to get from one class to another. I might need a special bag for the shower to protect my cast. I might need knitting needles to scratch my leg with the cast makes it itch. These are all accommodations that should be given to someone who has a broken leg. Even though just having a broken leg might not be actually make me disabled as far as the definition of disability goes, for the time that I have a broken leg, I am pretty much disabled in that regard. But no one puts a negative connotation on that. They just think or say, "Oh, you broke your leg, you need extra help and extra consideration right now." There are no negative or positive vibes associated with that. It just is what it is and you just do what needs to be done to accommodate it.

But when we are permanently disabled, for whatever reason, people think that is a negative and horrible thing. It's not a negative and horrible thing, it just is what it is and just like a person who has a broken leg needs special consideration during that time, disabled people need special consideration all the time. There is nothing negative about that unless people don't want to give us that special consideration because they don't what to be bothered or inconvenienced. So I think that the whole stigma about disability is not because we are disabled but because people do not want to be inconvenienced in having to be bothered to give us special consideration all the time. So I don't think that the feeling of insult about being disabled comes from us who are disabled. I think it comes because we feel other people's negativity because we are a burden to them because they have to be bothered to accommodate us.

So when they say that we should not consider ourselves disabled, it's not to make us feel better about who we are. That makes no sense. What does make sense is that if they can convince themselves that we are not disabled, they can justify why they don't have to accommodate us and give us special considerations. So if we can't do something and they have not provided the necessary accommodations, they can just blame us and say it's our fault because we should not be considering ourselves disabled.

I'm insulted by the wide-spread belief that changing the names of things will somehow get rid of the prejudice associated with those things.

I have disabilities that I feel limit me a lot more than my autism & I've felt disabled my whole life as a result. I do think of myself as disabled & am not insulted by that unless someone calls me disabled in an area that I feel I'm not disabled in.

Interesting you say this. I am in Special Olympics and actually know many people who are Autistic and lower functioning than I am. Most of them are adults. I have not once ever met a lower functioning Autistic person, child or adult who felt that I did not deserve my Autism diagnosis because I was "higher functioning." When we talk to each other about our lives, we can see right away that we have very similar struggles and in some areas I struggle much more than my "obvious" friends. But I have met many many parents and family members of "lower functioning" or more obvious Autistics and some of them are the parents of my friends who are Autistic themselves. The parents and family members are the ones who have a problem with my diagnosis, not the Autists themselves. My Autist friends and I immediately relate and find much of our lives very similar and they even respect that in some ways they are actually much more capable of functioning than I am. Their parents and relatives, on the other hand, do not. Some of them will think how dare I have a diagnosis that is the same as their child's because I can't possibly be disabled because I don't look like their child at first glance. And if I try to explain my issues to them they will sometimes argue and fight me and say that my issues can't be valid or real because i can communicate well and drive a car and live in a house by myself.

Going though Heathrow today I saw a sign on the disabled bathroom door - something like - "remember not all disabilities are visible". I was pleasantly surprised. Airport bathrooms are a meltdown spot for my daughter and having the greater space, internal sink, and greater control over hand dryer noise, makes a big difference. Thinking of all the years where I have had to spread out like an octopus holding a baby, all our bags whilst blocking the sensor so the self flushing toilet won't automatically flush.... I really feel the disabled toilet would have been a good option for us.

WOW!! That is awesome. I love that they put that sign up. Those signs need to be everywhere. I actually use the disabled toilets myself because of my hypertonia. I have an extremely difficult time in a regular toilet. And most of the time I can't even get in and out of a regular toilet because the doors open in and I am not a small person. If I must use a regular toilet, I have to leave the door open and I still have a lot of trouble. So I always opt to use the bigger ones.