Do you consider yourself special needs

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I been on a few autism based threads on Quora and many of them say they don't see themselves as special needs. Typically a special needs person would be more lv 2 or 3 autism, but even lv 1 autstics can be deemed special by neurotypical standards. I identify with level 1 autism but I have support needs that may seem jarring to a neurotypical i.e dysgraphia, speech delay, and the way I express excitement can be seen as childlike to most people my age.

I have done a lot of things in my life that met age expectations, but I still don't have a license and still never been on a date before despite being 28. I identify with being special needs, but my needs differ from another autstic.

i am level 2 so yes

No. But I've only got a "dash" of autism.

I've never learned how to drive a car or get a real job, however, and I've never traveled outside the country so I guess I've wasted my whole life.

I'm not sure.

But I have earned a driver's licence and know how to drive a car with a proper (manual) gearbox.

I struggle with this because it's hard to gauge the extent I'm limited. My instinct is to deny and overcome any labels defining myself as limited or incapable. I support when others do so and envy them a little

Did not matter.

Less about because I'm autistic, and more like this body is a stupid sensitive nuisance that remained unaccomodated and untreated in layers, that worsens whatever dysfunction I ended up with and they all blame it on being "a part of autism".

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I was as a kid due to significant language delay. I wouldn't consider myself special needs now.

I don't think of myself as a 'special needs" person but I would have been placed in 2E classes if they had been available/present at the time I went to school.


I do view my autism as a disability and I do have struggles with audio and visual processing issues.

At my spot on the Autism Spectrum I think my "special need" is usually "some patience".

What is being classified as 'special needs'?

^Spina Bifida is not a developmental disability as such. It's a spinal defect where the spinal cord bulges out of a gap in the bones of the spine. Symptoms are often paralysis from the waist down and possibly incontinence. I have spina bifida occulta where there's a gap in the bones of the spine but the spinal cord is intact and not bulging out. I have no symptoms and it was only picked up when I had a spinal x-ray.

As for special needs, I don't think I have any but I do think that as an autistic I am disabled. I'm on the disability pension for it.

I have never used or heard this phrase in relation to myself, so I'm unsure what it really means in context. Once, someone called my hearing loss special needs and that was a rude joke, he was attempting to insult me or make fun of me. But I was just jarred that he's making fuss out of it. That was rude.

My hearing loss / APD is a disability, but it hasn't ever attracted so much attention to have any official accommodations at school, although I needed some and still do.

Yeah, I'm definitely special needs. I can become a complete disaster in the wrong conditions, even ending up hospitalized. But, I even it out with special contributions. I seem to understand the world differently from the general population, and that perspective helps out sometimes.

On the other hand, being diagnosed in mid-life and having achieved some vocational success even if only for short periods of time, it's hard for me to identify, identify as, or even request special needs. It feels like I'm being an imposter or taking away support from others that need it. I guess it's kind of like a person that found ways to cope and achieve with severe leg pain thinking everyone else was doing the same, but then realized that mostly everyone is not in severe leg pain when they are walking. So now, the person is offered the disability parking spot, but they're like, "Oh, I'm not disabled. I can walk just fine." Ok, but also, if they used that parking spot, they'd:

1. Go to a lot more places
2. Enjoy their outings while they're there rather than stay home or complain about whatever while they're there
3. Not want to take drugs to deal with it while there
4. Get caught up with bad crowds that prey on leg-painers
5. Be happier and healthier overall
6. Contribute freely and rewardingly more often
7. Improve in other areas that are limited due to dedicating extra effort to leg pain

So I guess it's a good thing to consider myself special needs. Just gotta be ready for the gatekeepers with a brilliantly exhausting infodump on autism. "Well actually..."

In summary, I'm switching over to accepting it.

Define "special needs", and I'll tell you. I don't wish to appropriate the term, nor do I have a need to use it personally. I do consider myself disabled.