Why Aspies ARE disabled, and we should embrace that.

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"Welcome to the Disability Community" by Joel Smith (of http://thiswayoflife.org): http://thiswayoflife.org/blog/?p=287

Further commentary by Amanda Baggs (of http://autistics.org) and discussion thread:http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?p=480

I totally disagree. My mother is in a wheel chair and she still hates my guts for being "different" and not acting like everyone else.

The disability comes from other people's actions disabling us. If they accepted us for who we are and made allowances for the way we behave there would be no disability.

Question is if not socializing the way society is, then what would be said about people who do not listen...

I socialize just not in the way people want small talk, talking about useless things that everyone else talk's about, going over stuff that I would think is private, & they should not be talking about it to friend's when I could imagine the person they talking about trusted them with this information...

The question is not if we can socialize its the fact that our socializing is not valid, we are not rewarded for the way we communicate, socializing is not defined on what socializing is, it is defined by the reward system of that type of socializing..

I get told to shut up, not listened to, so on... If I talk the way I want to socialize, I have to adapt myself to socialize the way they want it, not because I am disabled or not functioning, they say its not a disability until it becomes social & good communication skills...

They is less of us they fore we are dysfunction this kind of thinking goes on throughout history, like someone said if someone cannot tolerate something like left handed people what chance have we got..

We are neglected while growing up by society, then they want to force tones of information onto us to change into society, maybe they just covering up a huge mistake they made... Even dyslexic people have been caught in it breaking basic human wrights... Funny how a organization can take a person within a week & make them a whole lot better with dyslexia...

I am on disability. So, praise God in the Highest!

I certainly dont think I am disabled. Not sure what the medical defintion of a disability is but in my mind a disabled person is somebody who has a DX that prevents him/her from functioning independently in life and being able to enshure their own servival.

Tho I have a DX of HFA (which would be considered Aspie had I got DX'ed a few years after I did) I am not disabled because I enshure my own servival and am only dependent on myself. Their are HFA/Aspies who are disabled because they cannot enshure their own survival and thats why its a spectrum, everyone with the DX is different, one may be disabled, tho other is not. Just my opinion never would I call myself disabled.

I'm all for getting support from the government (for my kids at least) to help them pretend to be NT when they need to be but I'm encouraging them to celebrate who they are.

That means, I'm not telling them that they're broken or wrong but rather than they are different for a reason.

I dont think i am disabled either.
However i was told that the main reason As and autism is included in disabilities is because if it isnt then they will not be covered by the disability discrimination act, meaning they could be discriminated as people choose!! !
In my view i think disability means stopping you doing things that you want to do, but i am not stopped by doing anything i want to do.
xx

I think we are getting bogged down here, in semantics (again). I had to research this a few years ago for an article i was writing, as well as a book. OK, times and ideas change fast in society, but I don't think they change THAT fast.

What I discovered then and still feel is current - disability is not only physical, it can be hidden as well. A physical disability can be hidden or apparent; a mental/emotional/social disability can also be hidden, or apparent.
But a disability does NOT mean (necessarily) anything negative.

Which brings us to "handicap". You can be disabled, but still able to do everything you choose to do. Your particular handicap may influence the choices you make, but if it does not stop you doing anything you want, you are not handicapped by it.
Often, handicap is what is imposed on us by society. People's attitudes, etc. Again, you still (often) have a choice - to take what people say on board and let it diminish you, or to ignore it and carry on being who you want to be. If what is being imposed on you is physical limitation, then it is hard to ignore or carry on. You can't continue down a road when someone places a security barrier on it.

I am physically disabled. I have MS. There is a constant underlay of muscle weakness. before my disability, I could ice skate really well. I always wanted to learn to ski, but was HANDICAPPED by lack of money. Now I'm handicapped by increased disability. I was able to continue ice skating for ten years after I developed this condition, but when I last tried, my muscles had grown too weak for me to maintain my balance on that narrow bar of steel.
In other aspects of my life, I have walked away from doors which are now closed, and kicked open a few others. I have found other things I am good at which now occupy my energies. Because I do not engage in areas where my disability is likely to be an issue, I do not consider myself handicapped.

Think of it in terms of a golf handicap. Or horseracing. There, a handicap is imposed on the more proficient, in order to bring things back to a fairer level for all players. I teach chess to local kids - if I see a very unbalanced chess match about to begin, I will impose a handicap on the better player - play without your queen. This makes the game play for longer, makes the better player work harder, gives the weaker player more chance to learn. It also benefits the better player who learns to do well with his remaining pieces. If the better player wins, he can say, "I won - without using my queen."
It is from here that we get the concept of "handicap". But society's imposing of handicaps is not always done in the spirit of making things fairer. Because "society" is a catch-all word for life with other people involved, what we are describing is something chaotic. Laws are imposed on all society, some of those laws designed to keep things as fair as possible. New buildings are supposed to include consideration for physically disabled users - ramps, wider parking spaces with a disabled logo, toilet doors opening outwards, that sort of thing. These laws are designed to reduce the handicap. Trust me, nothing society does will change my disability.

I do consider Asperger's and autism to be a disability, but I do not necessarily see it as a handicap. I have raised my children (on the spectrum) to see it this way as well. Their disability IS apparent to others (not everybody) so we can't 'pretend' there is nothing out of the ordinary there. So we tell people, and that knowledge generally leads to a better understanding and less hassles. Anyone continuing to hassle, especially after knowing the diagnosis - t hey are in breach of a number of human rights laws and will feel my steel-capped boots in their rear. or at least, my lawyer's. They now have absolutely no excuse, if they try to impose a handicap on me or my kids.

I embrace "disability" because it IS part of who I am. I do not let it limit me in any way, but I keep actively enjoying a full and productive life.

I am using the definitions I expressed here, to make this statement.