Do you consider yourself disabled?

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Yes, I am disabled. I have as, add, depression, asthma and knees that dislocate easily. I guess a big part of me being so comfortable with the term disabled is that I got my first neurological diagnosis as a child. As a child, I also spent long times in hospitals after knee operations. I've always known that I'm disabled and that I have to be careful doing certain things.

I require considerable accomodations in order to cope with society's expectations, so within the context of this society I am disabled.

Let me respond to this *Before* I read through the thread..
I chose other because I am actually "Disabled" but only in certain areas. In others I have compensated or learned to mask. Or found a way around. (ie, talking about this stuff in Cyberspace but not in "Real" Space.)
I have strong problems in dating/relationships.
Also, in sensory issues & reliances on routines.
In other areas I have very few problems, though I definitely still have autistic traits.
It took 50 years to get here, though. With proper support, It might have taken 12-15 years.

Sincerely,
Matthew

Last edited by Matt62 on 03 May 2012, 1:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Despite all of my success, I cannot forget that I have several other health issues, like Osteoarthritis & Crohn's disease.
Let us just say, it has not been an "Easy" Life! <growls>

Matthew

No I do not I view having AS like having a super power much like Rouge I have no control over how to use it.

Yes I am disabled from both the autism, schizoaffective disorder, severe off the charts anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, and because of all this I get SSI and qualified since 18 because before 18 I didn't because my dad made too much money. Right after high school they said I qualified but I didn't pursue it because I still thought dad made too much money and I had too much money in my account due to a trust fund to go to school. So, someone told me at 23 that I don't need to worry about my dad's amount of money that he makes and would easily qualify for services. Anyways I got worse and worse as an adult. I was pretty bad as a teenager as well and had to go school to school due to bullying and breakdowns.

I went to the state doctor for SSI and once they saw me, they said that there is absolutely no way I can hold down or get a job even a simple one mainly due to my severe off the charts anxiety. Most people who meet me that is the first thing they notice and once they get to know me they see the autism and schizoaffective disorder as well.

Luckily my hallucinations are mild compared to others with the diagnosis with just a few hallucinations a day. The docs mainly diagnosed me based on so called delusions. I act on them when they are bad but there are other times where the delusions are not that bad and its just running in the background so I don't act on those. My schizoaffective is mild so that is good. Its not like I have to be institutionalized for life or anything just 1-2 times a year when I have to go into the hospital. Its only a week at a time. Not the state hospital where its months. My friends have ended up in the state hospital because they suffer from mental illness as well. That is why I get along with them better than so called normal people. I feel connected to them. I love my birds as well. I have a macaw at home that I feel connected to.

I have been having a depressive episode since March of this year. I am barely eating right now. But i still think I am gaining weight because of all my pills.

My fibromyalgia isn't that bad but I am on a lot of meds for it. I also have a relaxing massage every 2 weeks and that I look forward to and it makes me happy for an hour. I am also a cutter which is embarrassing to mention. Some years I only cut a couple of times but other years I cut many times. This year is far worse than last year in cutting. I try to hide it from people so they don't notice because it is so embarrassing. I realize its part of the mental illness mainly the depression and schizoaffective disorder. At one time some people thought I had borderline personality disorder but I don't. In fact I went to a doctor far away in Seattle (2 hours away) and he was insistent that I had it based on my cutting. It was annoying like my brother.

I also have a talent because of my autism. Starving art which there is no future in. Starving all the way. 99.9% of artists starve and have no future and starve. Did I mention starving? I am terrified when my parents die because besides their death of sadness, I can't live on my own. Seriously. I can't use the phone to strangers just my friends... barely. I would be too depressed to do anything anyways. Also I am having a show this weekend with my starve at a pet show. In a way I am excited and in another way I know its going to fail since I destroy all companies around me. Several in fact. I am bad luck to many people. So that is all for now.

What's wrong with just "different"?

Suspected AS aside, I am already diagnosed with ADHD and that in itself I consider to be rather severe, considering how much it impacts my ability to do well in college and at home. Everyday is a struggle for me, and it seems like I can never complete anything or do anything right. So as much as I'd rather not admit it, sure, from society's point of view I would qualify as disabled.

The first two are the same thing, just phrased differently. The third one = normal (not disabled), the opposite of the first two.

So you think that Autistics are evolving faster then NTs?

The concept of "next evolutionary step" is completely unscientific at any rate. Not that evolution can't be categorized as steps, but the idea that it works a certain way doesn't make sense.

One also need go no farther than the relationships forum to see how difficult it is for many autistic people to find and keep a lasting relationship, which makes me question the evolutionary value of a disorder that tends to have significant social impairments.

I voted other. I consider myself mildly disabled.

I can function in life, it's just difficult.

This is exactly why I am so hesitant with labels.

Because, if you think about it, all labels refer to a majority or an average. Being disabled means you are not able to do what the majority of people can do. The corporate world needs those tags because there you are put in boxes.

I won't get into the corporate world either because of my anxiety, which keeps me from performing certain tasks.

What helps though is accepting difficulties you have, so I guess I do identify with "disabled".


I actually just voted for "differently abled" because some people won't see a point in the things I am able to do. Well, a lot of people do, actually... I can get really angry about that, but mostly about their ignorance.

When you study human beings in the distant and cold manner that I am capable of one can only come to the conclusion that the whole of humanity consists out of nasty, stupid, evil and destructive mammals.

So why should I consider myself as disabled just because I happen to have aspergers?
We are all disabled in one form or another.

No - I do not consider myself disabled.

Personally, no, I don't consider myself disabled. I have AS-- everyone has struggles in life and I have a particular set of them that are somewhat different from the norm-- but I've met people who CANNOT hold a job, do the work necessary to care for themselves, et cetera et cetera, and I am not one of them.

I'd feel like a real s**t drawing SSI or whatever, especially after watching all kinds of people game the system and seeing myself and my mother judged harshly by others after terminal cancer forced her onto SSI when I was a kid.

An 85-pound woman wasting away in a bed throwing up chicken broth and saltine crackers for eighteen months and thanking God that she can still "walk" to the bathroom if her father holds her up is disabled. I'm not-- I can do almost anything anyone else can do, if someone will take the time and trouble to teach me or show just a smidgen of extra patience.

I have, unfortunately, come to understand the idea that the majority of Homo sapiens in the developed world consider the inability to think and act pretty much exactly like them a disability. That a lot of the professional community doesn't like the idea of me thinking of myself as "abled." That I'm going to have to accept the limitations THEY set for me and do the best I can to be happy in spite of it.

With one exception-- If THEY decide I'm not capable of raising my kids simply on the basis of my diagnosis, I will end up teaching them the definition of the word "perseveration."

I will not rest until I have put my family back together, healed the wounds, and crucified every last one of them.