Why is it a disability?????

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According to the government agency, the EEOC, all forms of autism are among the list of disorders in US code, that are consistently defined as disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA. In US code, Autism is defined as a disorder that consistently limits the functioning of a major body system, specifically a limit in brain functioning.

While the identified behavioral impairments can also be associated with the ADA definition of disability, a limit in brain functioning is the core limit of functioning addressed as meeting the definition of disability, per Autism, in US code.

I agree with aspects of the social model of disability as well as the medical model of disability. Human beings have evolved over thousands of years, not only to be increasingly dependent on each other, but on the infrastructure of society through cultural evolution in the span of one lifetime as well. This element can accommodate disabilities, as well as create them, in extremely complex ways that are not fully understood, and may never be fully understood.

But overall, the infrastructure of society is much more accommodating to individuals with disabilities than before those accommodations were made possible by the modern infrastructure of society.

And, without that cultural infrastructure, many individuals would find themselves, in practice, with disabilities that they never realized they possessed, as social animals that are accommodated everyday through the exoskeleton of culture, well beyond what is designed as accommodations for individuals with disabilities, or what is commonly identified as disability.

Take away electricity from the entire country for a month, and one would have a population consisting of millions of individuals that would be suddenly functionally disabled, as many individuals in the US, are almost completely reliant on that one factor associated with the exoskeleton of culture.

Primitive cultures that still exist in South Africa and South America, are not potentially effectively disabled in this manner. But on the other hand it's not a good place to live, if one needs long term care in a nursing facility.

And the issue becomes much more complex as cultural evolution has led to new potential phenomenon associated with disabilities, such evidence that about 25% of teens are on the verge of developing type two diabetes now, and projected at one third of that demographic in the future, as compared to about 9% a little over a decade ago.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/diabetes-on-the-rise-among-teenagers/

Independence is a relative term, depending on one's circumstances. The type two diabetes phenomenon is just the tip of the iceberg.

Uhh, because it is disabling.

Even then people do not accommodate you. The excuse being "it can't that bad because you've just been diagnosed". The same person also said they'll think about it. Um, the law states you have to.

Going by your join date, I'm not certain if you're aware, but Amanda used to be a frequent poster here on WrongPlanet, under the username 'anbuend'. I miss her insights.

For many people on the spectrum, they also have sensory issues. These can be very disabling.

She comes and goes. She will probably be back at some point if inspired to do so.

One of my favorite posters, too.

Because it causes limitations and impairments due to the way society is. We have to work harder to confirm and make it though life, some hit road blocks due to it. Those who say they they don't see it as a disability, I assume they are either mild and they have learned to adapt so well, or they have a lot of positive thinking and don't care about their own impairments or limitations because they don't see it as such. After all everyone has limitations or else everyone be going out in outer space or be paramedics or surgeons or veterinarians or have the same abilities.

It depends. I think ASD is part abilities, part disabilities. It all depends on the situation. In a group conversation, I'm definitely disabled. In art and music, I am enabled. In a job interview, I am disabled. When it comes to "boring" repetitive tasks, I do well.

Yes.
And someone correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't she openly acknowledge herself as being disabled? Her stance is that she's not of less worth because of her disability.

Something people, in general, seem to misunderstand is 'having a disability' and 'being disabled'. One can have a disability (as defined by law, or society at large) and not be disabled by that disability. On the other hand, one can have a disability and be disabled by it. Personally, I consider myself 'disabled' because I cannot function in society (or my own apartment) without the aide of others. To me it's kind of philosophical, if I was 100% abled I wouldn't need anyone, right? So by extension, no one needs anyone else if they have zero disability but in fact, everyone is 1%-100% disabled because even the most capable of society still NEED others to survive.

Now on the part of society, there are acceptable needs, such as friends, food, shelter, etc. and there are means by capable people to provide such for themselves. Being disabled means you cannot provide the means society expects you to provide for yourself, you need aide. You are no less of a person if you need help, and in fact, it's society's responsibility to provide help for those that can't help themselves (or have great difficulty).

Autism is serious, it affects people differently but I'm not going to lie to anyone about how difficult my life is to earn respect anymore. It is a matter of respect. This society (US) demands too much of it's individuals and they pay that price because it lets them remain individuals.

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now. Autism, for most of us, is a disabling condition, period. Everyone else has already listed reasons why, I just threw out some philosophical junk too, as I always do

Yup. Her blog has been very thought-provoking for me. I grew up in a culture that says "disability is bad, scary, tragic; disability is abnormal; disability is shameful and must be hidden"--her writing helps me challenge a lot of that. It's the whole concept of disability as part of your identity, as a normal part of your life; disability as a normal part of the world in general. I had no clue that even existed when I was growing up. But now there are so many disabled people out there saying, "Yeah, I'm disabled; so what?" So what, as in--yes, I'm disabled; but no more and no less. When you say "disabled" you shouldn't have to drag along all that shame-fear-tragedy baggage that people try to load onto it. It should just mean "disabled" and not more; a neutral term like "female" or "short". It is hard to shake off that stuff, but it's easier when you can read about how other people are dealing with it, exchange ideas and stories and interact with other people who also have disabilities so that it no longer seems scary and foreign to you.

If you want to read her blog, you can google "Ballastexistenz"--it's the first result. She posts every now and then.

The only way being "disabled" affects me jobwise is not being able to drive. I am 30 and driving is just not my thing. Other than that, I can manage all of my other differences pretty well.

Not driving gets in the way of being hired for many jobs.

I read her blog from end to beginning once, back in early 2008. I learned a lot from it about viewing everyone as equally human (I will certainly admit I had my issues in that regard) and realized that I was possibly autistic too.

It took me awhile to be okay with the idea of being disabled, though. Unfortunately. I wish I'd dealt with it sooner. It would have saved me a lot of aggravation.

I can see where Aspergers can be a disablility depending where it is on the Autism Spectrum. Otherwise, as long as a person can work and live on his or her own, it is just being different. Many with Aspergers make much better employees than many NTs. When you are dealing with many NTs, they just don't understand.

But being disabled don't mean a person is nonfunctional either. Disabled people can do a lot of many different things even earning a pay check from home.

It is a disability. Because the majority rules and in any case even the majority is wrong, aspie still lives with the majority. Hence, to make a living, it takes too much "synchronize" to adapt to this world.

Slower than normal reaction time