Do you consider yourself disabled?

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I'm self-diagnosed / getting an official diagnosis AS and as a result I now identify myself as a disabled person.

I'm the same as I've been all my life, although not as capable as I was seven years ago I'm currently FAR more capable than I was as a child, the idea of suddenly being 'disabled' is strange. I think disability is something people distance themselves from...where as it turns out we're all a diagnosis, accident or sickness away from being disabled. I think disability is thus a fluid label, and one we can choose to own or not.

Obviously not everyone on the spectrum is disabled...do YOU identify as disabled?
A 'Disabled person' or a 'Person with a disability'?
Do you consider yourself differently-abled?
Why or why not?

(I'm talking about autism as a disability, if you consider yourself disabled due to another condition please state)

I consider a disability as something that interferes or limits you in your day to day life. And my symptoms do so I am disabled. Person with a disability, disabled - makes no difference to me.

I consider myself disabled - not just for being autistic, but also due to ADHD, depression, and fibromyalgia. I also had a fairly disabling bout of panic disorder several years ago, but it seems to be mostly gone now.

All of these things limit me, and cause problems.

I see myself as learning disabled. It puts limits on me and that is it effects my learning so going to college be too much for me. Plus I had to get tons of help in school with my school work, it was as if I was lazy.

Plus anxiety seems to cripple me too. I avoid situations that cause it and I don't deal with stress well due to it. Maybe medicine will help but I am hesitant to take it right now.

I sometimes do feel disabled and other times I do not.

i have various addlements which pervasively interfere with my success in any worldly task, in this lifetime. the harder i try to brute-force my way past these addlements, the harder they have slapped me back down. the more i try to put a positive spin on them, the more they all holler back at me, "KNOCK IT OFF!! !" they put me in my place. i can't wait to matriculate into the great beyond and to leave all my worldly limitations and worries far behind.

Let me answer this with etymology:

Dis = Apart

I do that to make myself feel better. D:

I do have some impairments, but I also have some strengths.

Now if only I could stop having flashbacks. >:I

No. My AS is mild enough that I can work, live independently and generally take care of myself, so I don't think I could qualify as "disabled" by any criteria. I would consider it an "impairment", however.

I wouldn't consider myself disabled in the least...I'm on the mild end of the spectrum though. Sure I've got my struggles, but who doesn't?

I would say so considering all the mental issues/difficulties.

I'd say yes because I am unable to get and keep a job or support myself and have a lot of anxiety and social problems.

Every time I fill out the enrolment form for my daughter's singing workshop, I have to think if I should tick the box for disabled or not disabled. Although she's different, she's very high functioning, so I've decided on ticking 'not disabled'. In many ways, she's much more able than most other kids. I go to the back of the form, where there's a box for further info, and I write a paragraph about how she can become overwhelmed, etc.

This does make me think of a course I went on at work called 'Disability Awareness'. A few physically disabled people came to talk with us about the difficulties they faced. I left the course astounded at the things they could do, things I could never imagine being able to do. From then on, I've seen people are differently abled, rather than disabled/ not disabled, unless they need support with most things. For example, the blind man, who needed some assistance to find things in the supermarket, but could put his shopping in his cupboards, without help, and go back a few days later and know what each tin contained.

I have social anxiety, ADHD, a few personality disorders I'm tired of mentioning, and epilepsy. Oh and hypoglycaemia. I always forget that one but it is especially impairing if I don't keep eating. I'm probably not treating it properly, but I do limit my diet.

I seem high functioning because I medicate the sensory issues and the lack of organisation, moodiness and oppositional behaviour out of me. Without it I wouldn't last very long.

I guess I'd like to say I'm not disabled, but any independence I gain is very temporary and there are other factors as well.
I'd say more of an impairment, verging on disability.

I consider myself a disabled person, not a person with a disability.

I am a person who has significant difficulty and challenges with some things as a result of impairments caused by an ASD. If the world and people were the way I would design it, I wouldn't be disabled. But it isn't and as a consequence, I am.

It took me quite a long time to accept the disabled label. But I'm comfortable with it now. And I should point out there are some environments in which my impairments do not lead to disability and in those circumstances I don't consider myself disabled.

Edited to add (because I someone else quote it later in the thread):

I was told that I meet criteria for disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010 which is ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’ and that an Employment Tribunal would consider me as such. When I was told this was the first time I had considered myself disabled even though I had been diagnosed at least 6 months earlier... and that was in spite of my extensive familiarity with the act coming directly from my work! I just didn't think it applied to me! My employer put "reasonable adjustments" in place at work so I am less disabled there than I was, but the work premises itself is still quite a disabling environment for me - hence one of my current adjustments is to work from home in the afternoons (where I am not disabled, though still have challenges ... but doesn't everyone?).

I'm definitely disabled. My retirement insurance thinks so too and pays me for sitting at home all day being depressed. Which is very frustrating, considering that I was a mostly functional and contributing member of society when I was younger. This would probably still be the case if it wasn't for the hell that is other apes. Those other apes decided that I was too weird to be part of the herd and tried to chase me away, and after a while they succeeded. Now I'm living out my days as a solitary pariah and the herd that refused to accept me has to pay the bill. You break it, you pay for it with your tax money. It has a certain karmic feel, but that's little consolation to this broken ape.