Do you consider AS a formal "disability"?

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That sounds reasonable...but there's one thing about it. If you interact in an NT based world, are not impaired, can "deal" well, why do you need the Asperger's diagnosis? What would be the reason to have it? Just to say "I'm different I have Asperger's but no one can tell because I am mild and act just like an NT" It's kind of pointless. You might as well say you aren't disabled.

Do you think so? What I am saying is that humans tend to accept these animals as being normal for their species or breed in spite of all their quirks. Certain kinds of dogs can only function in a domesticated environment; they cannot live in the wild as wolves do. Nature has many examples of mutualism and other dependent relationships. Or are you talking about a spectrum of disorders that affects only a few isolated individuals within a breed or accross breeds? Whichever way, the most commonly occurring variant is not necessarily the one against which the others should be measured. Some are well-suited to a certain environment, lifestyle or task, others to something else. Some are just not viable under ANY conditions, or the conditions simply cannot be afforded; most farmers wouldn't be prepared to raise a "somewhat different" cow in an oxygent tent unless the cow could grow to 1,500 kg within a week of birth and produce a kilolitre of milk per day for several years.

If this were a debating society topic, I would certainly be able to take the opposite stance as well, based on the assumption that the individual which requires the least "assistance" in its default environment is the standard.

But it's 03:00 and I am not making any sense even to myself anymore, and I still have to study for an exam. So, considering I have probably made half a dozen errors in logic, I will concede defeat at the slightest hint of dissention.

Sure, I have already stated in this thread I do not think I am disabled because I cope relatively well with a world that is based around NT as the ideal. Though, I still have social interaction problems but I associate with people with AS, or NTs who do not mind the social faux pas that I often make. As a child though, I had significant social interaction problems (as well as other problems that most likely relate to AS, such as sensory problems and so on) but have learned to adapt somewhat. This is why I now consider myself to have a mild type of AS. Does that make sense?

Edit: to add another point.

The point I'm getting at is it's still AS. You found people who are willing to overlook your social interaction problems for whatever reason but don't you feel that you still have AS? I have problems being with people for long periods of time no matter who they are. I need lots of breaks. It's because of the AS. I can't say it's mild or gone because I know I am not able to do everything everyone else can. If I had a normal job that required being with people for long periods of time I would be completely stressed out in no time flat. It's not because I choose to be stressed out. It always happens no matter what I do or try. I used to think it was something I had control over and it was my fault in that sense but I realize now that I can't do anything about it.
Don't you feel that, in certain situations, if you allowed yourself to be in them, the part of your AS that interfers most, like anxiety and not wanting to be with people, dreading being with them and feeling a strong urge to quit your job just to escape them, would return?

Yes I agree with this. I have problems being around people for long periods of time too, no matter what I do as well. I have developed coping techniques though and that is what I am getting at when I say I cope well enough. At work, I listen to music most of the day so I don't have to listen to people. This is still tiring though as I would prefer silence but seeing as I can't have silence music to block out noises is the next best thing. I always take my lunch alone and go for a walk as that calms me down. If I cannot do these things then I become very stressed out. For example, one time my partner wanted me to meet him and his parents for dinner straight after work but then I would not have had the thirty minute walk alone that I usually do after work and we had a big fight as I just refused to meet them straight away as I was too exhausted from the social interaction at work. He ended up moving the dinner time to later so that I could go for a walk before I met them so I could calm down after work. So yes, my AS can interfer with my day to day life but other people around me help me out with this and I also make a lot of effort to help them out despite my differences.

I consider it that because in the US, where I live, it's on the IDEA list of disabilities for which a student can qualify for special education. Simple as that.

As far as AS being a disability for myself, personally, I'll have to explore that question a bit....

I have always passed as NT (not that people in my life have been aware of the possibility of neurodiversity), but I've had significant problems in every single job I ever had, because I don't "get" things that other employees seem to have been born knowing. I work slowly, leave things undone, and seem to get coworkers annoyed about something they will never tell me, and somehow make people think that I have an attitude problem, even before I've developed one--which I eventually do. Now, as a SAHM, I'm constantly having to find ways to explain why my kids haven't done their homework. It's because I don't have the executive functioning skills to consistently help them organize that, and I get things lost and messed up. But I can't explain it, because I freeze up and the words don't come.

So...I think those are pretty good examples of how AS (assuming that I have it) is "disabling" to me. I managed to get a university degree, because I'm a good test-taker and an excellent writer. I did poorly in a couple of classes, though. In one, I missed the "implied" instructions of the professor, about a major project. In another, I had to interview a person from India. I didn't know anyone at all, let alone someone from India, or have any idea how to find one. By a sheer stroke of luck, an Indian man came to work at the same place as my husband, and my husband arranged for us to meet. However, I was so nervous talking to this person I didn't know, that the interview was an embarrassing mess. Still, I got the degree.

I managed to stay in the Air Force for six years. However, I was the ONLY person I knew who got 8's on my performance report. Everyone always got 9's. It was pretty much a given that you'd get 9's unless there was something seriously wrong with you. I always got 8's, because of vague things like I need to "get with the program" and "be more confident", or "take the initiative", "work more efficiently". I was nervous all the time, because of the possibility that the colonel would walk into the room and I'd have to say, "Room, Ten-Hut!" and I'd get in trouble for not saying enough "sirs" or saying too many "sirs". I used to cut myself (just a little) with a razor to block out the pain of having to live with roommates who hated me without even attempting to get to know me, and building-mates who played loud music all the time.

I've never had a job that paid enough to support myself, or even close to it (or enough to pay for someone to take care of my kids while I'm at work) , and I can't see that happening any time soon, because of all of the above. I have never had anything remotely like a social network, or been able to get one, even after reading "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and all kinds of things like that.

But...I can read people's faces and body language, in general (I think. How would I know if I wasn't? ) I can have a conversation with certain people (although conversations often consist of quoting Monty Python back and forth). I don't do any obvious stimming. I don't have a flat affect. I don't have meltdowns. I have shutdowns, but people don't notice that. I don't talk on and on about a special interest. I often have one that I think about all the time, but I don't cram it down other people's throats.

So, I don't know. Do I have a disability? I can't really say. Does it sound like I do? Does it sound like I have AS? Who knows? I have limitations due to what I believe is AS, and no matter how hard I try to overcome them or "get with the program" that eludes me. If I lost my husband, and needed to support myself and my kids, I'd be up a creek, even with my BA in Anthropology, I'm sure.

For me personally I consider it a disability because it keeps me from doing things I want to do, and need to do. Like hold down a job. SSDI exists for people with disabilities. Thats not to say I think of all my AS as a disability, I rather like who I am.. I just wish I could get along better with people, learn to reciprocate a bit, and fit in more.

there was definatly a subsection on Asperger's and it's possible care requirements in the reference book the CAB people used when I got DLA last year. I know, becuase I read it.

So I suppose, in a way, we're both right.

I'm very stubborn too, and I think the politically correct term for stubborn is strong willed. Either way, the advice my mom gave me is good advice. My father was stubborn. He's dead now. My mom once told me I was being stubborn about something, and I snapped back with something on the lines that it was a good thing because my father was stubborn too. She told me that my father was wise about the things he was stubborn about. Like picking and choosing your battles wisely. My father was stubborn about having a job, getting to work on time (or early), waking up early for his alone time in the morning, making deadlines, doing the right thing, treating people with respect, etc. Basically, he was very stubborn about morality and ethics, including work ethics. That's one of his qualities that made him a very successful man in his life. So the fact that your boyfriend is stubborn can be a good thing if he chooses to mold and shape that quality into a good thing.

I've asked myself the same question for years. I've gotten by, with low-paying jobs, and sometimes long ago living with my parents; now I live on $819 a month from Social Security. I'm bright, and know that I could have been earning a lot more money doing jobs I was really suited for, if only I didn't have AS. I admit to feeling somehow cheated. Does society owe it to me to make it up financially? I don't know either ...perhaps in a better society than the one we live in now

No I dont

He's more stubborn about what he wears and what he listens to or watches on TV/Movies. : P

Last edited by Asuigeneris1 on 21 May 2009, 6:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

Oops...double post. LOL

Last edited by Asuigeneris1 on 21 May 2009, 6:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sheesh, my horrendous internet lag made me post three times. : P

I feel cheated too, but not because of what I'm not receiving - because of what I'm not giving. I'm too smart to be sitting around, virtually unemployed. It infuriates me that I'm not able to be a useful, productive member of society, just because nobody wants to have a quiet, non-social person as a co-worker.

I'm not impaired because I can't do the work - I'm impaired because other people mistakenly perceive me as incompetent, and don't even give me a chance. I don't know if this is a disability, because I don't know where the real problem lies.

I do consider AS as a formal disability, but I hate the media makes it sound 1000s times worse than what it actually is (in most cases).