Autism IS a Disability

[PastelPetals]

Have always thought of the 'superpower' leitmotif as something positive for young children to consider themselves. Most adults don't think in that way, as we've lived with autism throughout our lives and have learned to cope somewhat with it. And know what the difficulties are. But it may depend on where on the spectrum you are, what you have access to in terms of aids and how you think of yourself in general.

Yes I do think I might think of it different if I could have a job, relationships, go to college etc.

 

[Au Naturel]

Inspiration porn. First cousin to the Power of Positive Thinking crew.

Disability is relative. I am disabled relative to most NTs. OTOH I am not disabled relative to someone who is ASD 2 or 3.

"Differently abled"... the notion drives me nuts. It implies there's something I can do that NTs cannot. There is not. Nothing that I can do is something that an NT of equivalent intelligence cannot do. I am at a significant disadvantage to them with no way to compensate.

If you cannot do something that most people can do and is commonly expected you should be able to do, you are disabled. It isn't the mark of Cain and it doesn't mean you have nothing to offer. It means you're going to have a harder time of it.

 

[PastelPetals]

From where I sit, ASD1 is the cured form of ASD2/3.

This is like aspie supremacy all over again and I will have none of it. I have ASD 2 and I promise there is no curing and ASD 1 is not the better more advanced autism.

 

[Crossbreed]

This is like aspie supremacy all over again and I will have none of it. I have ASD 2 and I promise there is no curing and ASD 1 is not the better more advanced autism.

No it isn't. There are way more 2s and 3s than there should be.

2014-CA DDS Autism Cases By Birth Year

These are ASD2s & 3s only; not including ASD1s.
This caseload did not previously exist under a different diagnosis.
Also known as Millennial Autism.
Image taken from California's Autism Crisis​

ASD1 is ASD2/3 without the disabling co-morbids. (That is what the severity levels mean.) ASD1 is hereditary; 2 & 3 are not.

 

[PastelPetals]

No it isn't. There are way more 2s and 3s than there should be.

2014-CA DDS Autism Cases By Birth Year

These are ASD2s & 3s only; not including ASD1s.
This caseload did not previously exist under a different diagnosis.
Also known as Millennial Autism.
Image taken from California's Autism Crisis​

ASD1 is ASD2/3 without the disabling co-morbids. (That is what the severity levels mean.) ASD1 is hereditary; 2 & 3 are not.

"should be" how many should there be? Many of us were stuck under other labels just seen as dumb. These rates are of course only from one state in america and there might be other factors since it's just one state compared to the world. If you want to be in the autistic community you need to realize that people like me are here. I understand it must be hard to see your kids struggle but that does not mean we are all in pain or that ASD 1 is better. Levels are honestly meaningless anyway. Like i am very good with words but have developmental delays in many other areas and can barely do any math or hold a job. Another with ASD 1 may be very smart and can live on their own and have a job but had a speech delay and stumble over their words. Your life is not for everyone. You are not the true autism we all are.

EDIT: spelling

 

[Crossbreed]

Many of us were stuck under other labels just seen as dumb.

No they weren't. They would have already been in DDS under a different label (which they weren't). DDS would not be overwhelmed like it is. They just would have changed labels on the kids that were already there.

Recognizing an injured state is not an insult. Autism is not a defect, but severe co-morbids are.

 

[Au Naturel]

When I was young in the 60s and 70s, autism didn't exist. Instead, if you couldn't function well enough, you were tossed in the special ed. bucket as "mentally retarded, unknown cause." If you could function well enough, you were just written off as a nerd or a geek. Nothing to diagnose.

Autism as a diagnosis became a "thing" in the 80s. If you aren't looking for it, you don't find it. Almost fashionable nowadays. For practical purposes, it didn't exist prior to then.

Another factor is that psychological professionals actually started seeing kids to diagnose them. I never saw a mental health professional my entire childhood. Most kids did not back then. My high school counselor wouldn't know what Asperger's even was, let alone how to identify it. Everything was ascribed to bad life decisions and moral turpitude.

In California at least, mildly autistic people who would never have been diagnosed started clumping together in Silicone Valley and other high-tech centers. Women with mild autism were finally able to get degrees in tech fields and work in the industry. They married and produced offspring with genes from both sides of the family. Prior to the rise of Big Tech, mildly autistic people were much less likely to meet and marry.

Psychologists started realizing there are just a many autistic women as men. Very recently it was believed that women could not be autistic. You still see shrinks that think that way.

It isn't a "crisis." We are finally seeing what the underlying reality was all along.

 

[PastelPetals]

No they weren't. They would have already been in DDS under a different label (which they weren't). DDS would not be overwhelmed like it is. They just would have changed labels on the kids that were already there.

Recognizing an injured state is not an insult. Autism is not a defect, but severe co-morbids are.

Well than I guess I am wondering what co morbids you are talking about. I don't agree with some "pure autism" that exists but I do understand some mental illnesses, epilepsy, learning disorders etc makes things harder. However I know plenty of ASD 1 who have awful social anxiety or only want to talk about topics most people don't care about etc. In the end the real difference we have is all the "pure autism" problems you have are just more intense for me. You are right there is no shame in being injured but my brain is not damaged and I am not damaged I am just autistic.

 

[Crossbreed]

Instead, if you couldn't function well enough, you were tossed in the special ed. bucket as "mentally retarded, unknown cause."

There weren't as many of those as there are 2s & 3s, now. The crisis isn't autism. It is the sudden overwhelming need for DDS. Your "mentally retarded, unknown" cases could very well have been today's 2s & 3s, but they only occupied two or three chairs in DDS, not the ten or more they occupy today.

If you could function well enough, you were just written off as a nerd or a geek. Nothing to diagnose.

I agree. Those are still not counted in DDS cases.

 

[Major Tom]

Well than I guess I am wondering what co morbids you are talking about. I don't agree with some "pure autism" that exists but I do understand some mental illnesses, epilepsy, learning disorders etc makes things harder. However I know plenty of ASD 1 who have awful social anxiety or only want to talk about topics most people don't care about etc. In the end the real difference we have is all the "pure autism" problems you have are just more intense for me. You are right there is no shame in being injured but my brain is not damaged and I am not damaged I am just autistic.

Speak it sister! (Or brother).

 

[Crossbreed]

I do understand some mental illnesses, epilepsy, learning disorders etc makes things harder.

That is what I am talking about. A person can have those without autism, like from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. They are not autism. They are in addition to autism.

 

[PastelPetals]

That is what I am talking about.

Ok thank you for clearing that up. While I have both mental illnesses and a learning disorders I know just from what the symptoms of autism are even if I didn't have anything else I would not be ASD 1. Because yes I can't do very much math and I have to take meds to stay stable but I still perseverate, have very limited interests, can't make friends, communication problems etc to an extent it's would get in the way. (Also IMPORTANT: DD, LD, Mental illnesses are the vast majority of the time not caused by any injury it's just a neurological difference the co occurrence of epilepsy may cause brain damage however that only occurs in a smaller percentage of people)

 

[Major Tom]

Really, while I have my limitations, instead of making a sour face with the lemons life has handed me, I'm trying to make lemonade. I focus on my strengths, rather than my weaknesses. I work on said weaknesses when I'm able. If there's nothing that can be done about them (like my crazy sound sensitivity) I accept it and protect myself.

Sometimes there is strength in realizing you have weaknesses.

 

[Crossbreed]

(Also IMPORTANT: DD, LD, Mental illnesses are the vast majority of the time not caused by any injury it's just a neurological difference the co occurrence of epilepsy may cause brain damage however that only occurs in a smaller percentage of people)

Are you familiar with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in non-autistics? It is too common (but unrelated to ASD).

Fetal alcohol syndrome - Symptoms and causes

 

[PastelPetals]

Are you familiar with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in non-autistics? It is too common (but unrelated to ASD).

Fetal alcohol syndrome - Symptoms and causes

Yes....that's unrelated due to it not being autism and I thought we were talking about autism. Yes other people come anout there DD in other ways than just being born but that's not the case in autism.

 

[Crossbreed]

Yes....that's unrelated due to it not being autism and I thought we were talking about autism. Yes other people come anout there DD in other ways than just being born but that's not the case in autism.

Since it exists apart from autism and not all autistics have it, it is a secondary condition. That is the meaning of "co-morbid." And we can speak of it being a defect without making autism, generally, a defect.

Severity levels mean

1. Having minimal defects; requiring the least amount of support.
2. Having pronounced defects; requiring more support.
3. Having profound defects; requiring extensive support.

 

[Major Tom]

Yes....that's unrelated due to it not being autism and I thought we were talking about autism. Yes other people come anout there DD in other ways than just being born but that's not the case in autism.

The difference between fetal alcohol syndrome and autism is that there's is a definitive cause for it. I had a friend growing up who had it. He had the mentality of maybe a 7 year old, and an IQ maybe of 50, but he was one of the most kind, loving, and thoughtful people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. He also was a sort of savant, (which has nothing to do with autism). He had the phone book memorized. He knew every name, phone number and address. I tested him multiple times and he never got one wrong. It was one of the most astounding feats of the mind I've ever seen from someone who was so challenged in many ways. It's a shame people didn't get to know him and bullied and tortured him. I never did. I'd have to say, he was one of the best friends I've ever had. I believe I was destined to meet him.

 

[Crossbreed]

The difference between fetal alcohol syndrome is there is a definitive cause for it.

If it walks like a duck & quacks like a duck...

 

[Major Tom]

Since it exists apart from autism and not all autistics have it, it is a secondary condition. That is the meaning of "co-morbid." And we can speak of it being a defect without making autism, generally, a defect.

Severity levels mean

1. Having minimal defects; requiring the least amount of support.
2. Having pronounced defects; requiring more support.
3. Having profound defects; requiring extensive support.

Fetal alcohol syndrome IS NOT a co-morbid condition. There is a direct cause for it. The mother drinking while they are pregnant, usually in large quantities. Autism, ADHD, depression, and so on often appear out of the blue with no definable root cause.

 

[Crossbreed]

Fetal alcohol syndrome IS NOT a co-morbid condition.

It is not co-morbid because it occurs by itself. But a person with ASD1 can get FAS, if their mother drinks alcohol, and it would be a co-morbid condition (because it was in addition to the autism).

Autism, ADHD, depression, and so on often appear out of the blue with no definable root cause.

With a not-yet-identified root cause. Epidemiologists know that something changed, environmentally, around 1979. They just haven't come to a consensus what it was, yet.