How is Asperger a Disability or a Disorder?

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I only have a 98 IQ.

Just copied this from another thread just posted.......

As someone already mentioned, AS is a spectrum, and without doubt some are sufficiently impaired by autism that it would be difficult to consider their condition other than a disability. By this I mean that they are unable to earn a living and/or look after themselves. In addition, many with AS suffer from associated conditions, such as social anxiety and depression. I have read a number of posts on these forums where contributors have stated that they are more impaired by their anxiety or depression than they are by their AS. From folks' own descriptions of their difficulties, I have no doubt that this is true.

Another factor is that much of the interest and activity surrounding autism and AS is related to obtaining accommodations and funding. Thus there are powerful agendas and interests at play that go to considerable lengths to marginalize/deny the existence of successful autists. One of the more specious arguments is to quote the APA's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" and suggest that successful autists are simply not autistic. Another tactic is is to quote dubious statistics for which there is no available information detailing how they were derived. Some of the statistics cited clearly don't come from any rigorous scientific enquiry, but are nonetheless treated as truth by some.

Perhaps what muddies the debate most is that since there is no physical test (blood test, genetic test) or definitive markers for AS, nobody really knows who has it. It stands to reason that those autists who cope reasonably well do not seek assistance or identify themselves as AS. In particular, the most gifted and successful seem least likely to identify themselves as AS, thus skewing the perception of the condition.

In any event, every individual has strengths and weaknesses, and if everyone with a weakness or deficit was considered disabled almost everyone could be considered such. Personally, I reject the notion that I am disabled or disordered, even though I have significant social deficits and sensory issues. I will add that my successful career would not have been remotely possible without my intellectual gifts.

I think it's utterly senseless to say that you can't consider a disability to be a blessing. Yeah, by all means, let's rank autistic people by how disabled they are, and pity the ones with more disability points! Oh, no, you don't want to be one of THOSE disabled people. You want to distance yourself at every turn, because disability is shameful horrible and if you so much as touch it you'll be contaminated! You can't possibly be happy if you're disabled. Your life will always be worth less than if you weren't. You'll always be happier if you magically lose your deficits, because they can't possibly be part of your identity; oh no, this part of your brain that you've had since infancy is just an irrelevant part of yourself that can be dropped without changing you a bit! After all, if you find out you're worse than most people at something, the best thing to do is hide it behind your back, hope they won't notice, and wave around your favorite skill to justify your existence and prove yourself superior! Because, of course, we all know that being good at something automatically makes you happier, better, and all-around luckier than somebody who isn't good at whatever you're good at. And, if you like, you can pick which skills you consider important, so you can distance yourself from those poor defective people over there (who also share some of your weaknesses, but hey, those have been declared to be Not Important!). No, just pick a skill you're good at to be the important one, and you can declare yourself superior to anybody...

Heres a nice list of 80 bad features in adults, well, mostly bad ones...
http://www.aspires-relationships.com/ar ... for_as.htm

Why do people think their skills are always directly related to their condition? I have talent in areas like drawing/writing but take the condition away and id still be good at them, just without the downsides. The 'difference' thing confuses me.

Is Dyslexia more a difference instead of a disability?
How about OCD?
Bi-Polar?
Schizophrenia?

Yes there are a small number who have freakish skills that may or may not be related to the condition but the vast majority of us have a harder time in life rather than an easier time. So... disability. People promote the 'difference' idea so they can make us (or our parents) feel better. But that doesnt make it any less of a disability.

http://www.aspergers.com/aspcrit.htm

But I want to make 2 points:

1 - Today, many diagnosis of AS are made in children, and in the case of children it is not much clear what "impairment" reaaly means - if a children is perfectly happy with himself, but the parents and/or teachers think that he is "impaired", he will probably be considered impaired (when I was a little child, I was a very happy boy, with my imaginary life(s) and with my books, but sometimes I heard my parents and grandparents saying between them things like "We should take TPE2 to a doctor")

2 - 20 years ago, a black in South Africa will had many difficulties in his life; these mean that being black was a disease or a disability, in these time and place? These is an extreme exemple to illustrate that "being impaired" sometimes could be not only the result of individual caracteristics but also of social conditions. In the same way, a person with a mild social awkwardeness can be considered only a bit "odd" if he lives in a manufactering-based economy but could have severe problems if he lives in a services-based economy, for example.

I've seen the Neanderthal theory. Based on what I got out of reading about that theory, there is not enough evidence to convince me. Which doesn't make it false. It just means there isn't enough evidence. To me it seems that it may be a romanticism. Or perhaps an attempt to create a mythology. I think it's a nice story that people would like to be true. But until there's "enough" evidence, I'll remain skeptical.


What's the neanderthal theory? Help. Somebody?

Not understanding 'social things' very well, some of us can't talk(Though we may type or use other means of communication), sensory issues.

Need I say more?

I was reading this forum for a long time and came to a firm conclusion that the most disabling aspect of Asperger`s Syndrome is