Aspergers isn't a disorder.

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Then how come when threads like ''what would the world be like if Aspies were the majority'' pop up, people here think that it won't work out? That means that Aspies must lack the ability somewhere to be able to carry on a society for millions of years (according to the people who think that). So it then must be a disorder.disability.


Personally speaking, I consider it as a disorder myself. I am not different, I just find a lot of easy tasks difficult to handle, even if I did live in a better world where people had better empathy, and better understanding I would still find certain things difficult.

Definitely a disorder for me. My verbal/social interactions so lag behind my head I feel gagged sometimes. I'm tired of people thinking I'm an absolute idiot.

Disorder is a word, with a distinct definition. If you look and think carefully about the definition, Asperger Syndrome, as it is defined, is most certainly a disorder.

The real problem with the word disorder isn't so much its definition or wether or not the strict meaning fits AS. The real problem is all of the connotations attached to the term. Connotations are extremely subjective, and people's ideas of what connotations the term "disorder" conjures are different from person to person. Some of those connotations are very negative. Some choose not to see the term in a negative light. I happen to be one who chooses not to, and takes the term at face value as it is defined in dictionaries, and by the medical profession.

But that doesn't mean a lot of what the OP is thinking about couldn't possibly be true. If you put aside the semantic debates, and look only at the rest of what's being said, there is a lot of truth there. When you live in a society that thinks and does things a certain way, but you don't, you are the one who is by contrast to most around you, "thinking and living in a disorderly fashion."

BUT, that doesn't necessarily mean we're broken. It doesn't necessarily mean the way I think and do things is wrong. I think the way I think and do things the way I do, because it WORKS. Thinking and acting as most of society does around me, DOESN'T work for me. It just doesn't. I can't make sense of "their way." I must do things and process my thoughts the way I do, because no other way works for me.

Let's say I live with a mate that organizes her clothes a certain way, but I do it far differently. To me, her way is disorder. To her, my way is.

It IS, to a certain extent, a matter of perspective. The fact I have to face though, is that MY way doesn't work for almost everyone around me. And THEIR way, doesn't work for me.

So who do you think has a better chance of adjusting and adapting? Do you think I'm going to stand a better chance convincing everyone around me to change, or do you think I stand a better chance of adapting myself as much as I can?

All I know is I tired of bashing my head against reality a long time ago. Life for me is a HELL of a lot easier since I stopped insisting the world is broken and needed to change for me. It's STILL hard though! Harder than it is for those around me who are somewhat "homogenized." But it IS a whole lot easier than trying to remap all of societies paradigms.

Add me to the "Duh, of course it's a disorder" group. I'm disabled; I know it, I don't deny it, and I'm not ashamed of it. And my diagnosis--depending on who you ask--is either Asperger's, HFA, or PDD-NOS.

It's helpful to shift your perspective on this issue somewhat.

Instead of thinking, "Is AS a disorder?", first think about the question, "What does it imply to me and to my culture when something is called a 'disorder'?"

Words like disorder, disability, and syndrome have certain connotations in our world--peripheral meanings like "This person is inferior," "this person is not independent," "this person is not competent," or "this person deserves pity and patience". It includes ideas like "This person's life is not as good as a normal life", or "This person cannot be happy," or, "If this person does things that normal people do, he is extraordinary."

I have seen people denying that autism is a disability or disorder many times, and every time, what they are saying doesn't really focus on the denotative meaning of "disorder". They agree that people with AS living in an NT world have trouble socializing, often have trouble with the sensory information in their world, and often have trouble with various sorts of learning and thinking.

When they agree that AS people have AS-related problems but still debate the concept of "disorder", they are fighting against those secondary ideas--the ones that say that if you have a disorder, you're incompetent, inferior, subnormal, pitiful.

A better approach would be to address the concept of disability itself, and the things it has gotten falsely associated with. Rather than saying, "Autism isn't a disability," it would be better to say, "Disability isn't what you think it is."

It is a disorder but it's not always a disability. Whether or not it's a disability depends on the degree that it effects a person and whether or not they can learn ways to deal with the symptoms and cope with day to day life and independence. Some with AS who have more or stronger symptoms may be disabled by it. Others who have fewer symtoms or milder ones may not be disabled by it. Because it has the potential to inhibit a person from doing the things that others do not only to socialize but also for survival, it is a disorder.

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Depends on your definition of "disability".

If you define it as "a condition that prevents you from working", then sure, autism isn't always a disability.

If you define it as "a condition that requires accommodation, education, or assistance from technology or from others in order to live in your cultural environment", then yes, it's a disability. Diagnosis requires "significant impairment"--significant here meaning that it's detectable, not that it's extreme--and, if you're diagnosable, then that would make it a disability.

All autism spectrum disorders, including very mild Asperger's, are disabilities by the US government's definition of disability in the ADA and the IDEA (the first one deals with accommodations in businesses and other public places, the second dealing with schools and education). So, even if you are hovering on the edges of the spectrum, these laws protect your access to school, work, and public places.

If you're talking about whether AS is a disability, you've got to first define what you mean by disability.

I'm going to go with "mild Autism in itself is not a disability". In itself meaning 1. Without comorbids including associated things such as sensory issues which are technically not a part of the gritted and 2. Without the influence of society.

I could argue that the majority of society is mentally disabled as they lack the ability to say, play out a complex physical simulation in their own mind like Temple Grandin can.

Disability is a social concept, though. It's called the "social model of disability", if you're interested in learning about it. It means that disability itself is not something that can be defined by just looking at a person in isolation. To determine if something is a disability, you have to look at both the person and their society, and see if there is a mismatch between the skills expected of you and the things you can do. If there's a mismatch, then that's a disability.

ah, a rose by any other name....