Is ASD less of a disability than diverse sexual orientation

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Hello

With all the publicity over the past few years, including current.

I feel that a great deal of people recognise sexual diversity as being more of a disability than
having ASD, especially where people are high or very high functioning Autism otherwise known as
Asperger Syndrome.

I was starting to think if i started to wear woman's undies, I might get more support, as the support for high
functioning Autism is almost non existent in the greedy offshore finance centre that i live in.

any opinions...?

We get f**k all here too mate.

I don't think it's a case of one being more or less of a disability (and they come together a lot). Sexual diversity

gets attention (good and bad) because the public find it interesting. They find anything connected to sex interesting.

I think the problem with HFA is that a) Doctors don't know what it means but think they do, as in they assume

we function highly and b) What can they do for us? People like to deal with problems they can do something about.

They don't have a clue what to do with us.

Assuming your are talking about crossdressing, a man wearing women's clothes, there don't seem to be effective treatments for either. The young people on this forum, presumably diagnosed and treated, don't seem to be any better off than the older Aspies who never got treatment.

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Now that is the very definition of depressingly cynical.

And it is one that I have to disagree with, based on extremely limited personal anecdotal information. My nineteen year old mentor has always known that he was an Aspie, always known what that meant, and never felt that he was "broken" or "less than". I'm not saying his mom isn't awesome, because she must be (she's a single mom and the dad was never involved) but I've never met her.

My 30 year old family member's custodial parents weren't awesome, but they weren't abusive either. Normal autie traits that appeared in infancy were dismissed as trivial illnesses or inexperienced parents whining. When the child was too old to ignore the autism any more, it was misdiagnosed as mental illness and psychoactive medications were misprescribed.

One of those medications was called Xanax and one of its side effects, especially in children, is that it can cause suicidal ideation. My family member was legally just barely an adult when they became one of the people who experienced that side effect. Fortunately, someone called 911 in time and my family member's life was saved.

The doctors said my family member needed a higher dose of Xanax to control their anxiety.

My family member said, "No." and is the first Autist in our family to have an official diagnosis. My capitalization and use of the word is probably somewhat incorrect and my accent must be hilarious, but when I call this brave soul an "Autist", I mean that this Autistic person lives their life as if it were a work of art.

So does my nineteen year old mentor, of course, and both young people are heroic in their own ways, but what a difference ten years has made in the resources the younger Autist has to offer the world that the older had to use simply to survive.

ASD isn't a disability and neither is anyone's sexual orientation; bigotry and intolerance are the only reasons why we die so much younger. I've seen 70-80+ for NT, 35 for trans women, and 54 for HFA given as average expected lifespans, if all other factors such as genetic predispositions and cigarette smoking are equal. We also have much lower QUALITY of life because of intolerance and the kind of chronic stress all marginalized people live with.

ASD and nonbinary gender are not mutually exclusive, either. I've read some pretty powerful writing by folks living with a "double whammy" in these dangerous days.

Yes, I used to believe that too. Your use of language makes you appear about my own age to me.

I've had too many sweet little girls try to explain gender dysphoria to me and get frustrated thinking I would NEVER get it. Can I try to explain?

I've got this friend, let's call her Lisa. She's really talented, so I met her on IRC but she's so much fun it's hard to stay on topic because there are so few women who are interested in the same issues in tech as we are that it gets downright surreal how random "normal" people treat us and we can't resist comparing notes.

Lisa almost died the year before I met her. She was trying to pretend to be a boy and she just couldn't do it any more. That's what Gender Dysphoria is.

Lisa will always be trans. She will need to take hormones the way diabetics need to take insulin. She will never have children. She will never be "cured" or have a normal life.

But she isn't dead.

Lisa is transgender. She wants to live life as a woman. Her mind doesn't match her body. Hormone therapy often helps. Many often go through surgery and cosmetic treatments like hair removal to become more feminine.

Most crossdressers are heterosexual males that need to wear women's clothes. Most just want social acceptance and the ability to wear women's clothes out in public without fear or retribution. They don't need hormone therapy or surgery to change their body. They want to continue living as males as part of their daily lives.

To confuse matters sexual orientation is actually separate from gender. And there is a spectrum for both, just like autism is a spectrum. Yes, there are actually intersex people, who can't be clearly put in either the male or female category of gender.

https://www.spectrumnews.org/opinion/vi ... in-autism/
Sometimes, RRBs subside on their own. Others, however, are more entrenched and require targeted intervention. Some persist throughout adulthood despite attempts to ameliorate them at a younger age. In the end, Steward may be right that it’s best to leave them alone until we can provide definitive answers and proven interventions.

But a child who is flapping his or her hands or rocking back and forth may really stick out as odd, and caregivers feel the stigma associated with these behaviors.

The experts who helped Sesame Street create Julie, a girl with autism, had the other kids accept Julie's odd behavior.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn-a10Ko_38
Meet Julia, the newest friend on Sesame Street. Julia has autism, and when she’s excited, sometimes she flaps her arms. Abby flaps her wings when she’s excited. Together, they’re the perfect pair to pretend to be butterflies…and then watch a real butterfly that lands in the garden!