Autism as a Disability

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Do you believe someone who is a success or "high-flyer" to have more intelligence that people who are not?

Not necessarily—not by a longshot.

Not necessarily, though they're more likely to be than not.

I've known plenty of intelligent and rational people who are not "high-flyers." Some of them are on "benefits."

Success is a complex thing. There have been times, in history, where success has been enabled by a LACK of intelligence.

I

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Consentiousness and good IQ is nothing over whatever biologically induced executive dysfunction and mental shortsightedness.

Such is the case for me.
And it is very, very frustrating.

Edna, I agree.

OK, here is an easy way I would say this to a NT(non-ASD person). Some people are born blind, deaf or mute and they don't SEE it as a disability because they have lived with it all their life and learned to deal with it the best they can. However...Just like blindness, deafness, etc... Some are more "severe" some people on the spectrum cannot care for themselves, they cannot take their medications or do proper hygiene. Some people are so severe the require special care or assistance for life.
Others can manage to navigate the world fairly well. We learn to wear our "mask" we learn to not "stand out" as being different, however I still feel severe pain whenever sunlight hits my eyes...Or If more than one person is talking to me at a time it is nearly impossible for me to follow 2 different conversations. This is because ASD effects mainly our executive frontal brain functions.
I had to LEARN to stifle down my special interests when I was younger because I was bullied for it and beaten up for it (dinosaurs and animals, in both their English and LATIN names please!) ha-ha! In other-words, most of us with ASD who are "high(er) Functioning" don't see it as a disability. But it still EXISTS. Sunlight STILL causes severe pain to my eyes at age 58 as when I was just 8, and I am just as afraid of flushing toilets at 58 as I was at 8. I just learned to do it.
Its best to remember each person with ASD is different, some more severe than others and some more skilled at hiding it.

IMHO When I got diagnosed about a decade ago, I was advised to get on disability for a couple of years to take the time to study what autism was, how it impacted my employability, and to work out a futures strategy that took my autism into account.

A year later somebody else (mis) diagnosed me with Parkinsons, so I decided to retire and stay on disability.

It was easy to get on disability then under the previous government, but since then the political parties changed and now it's difficult for an autistic person to get on disability.

What seems to have changed, as far as I can tell, is how the two basic criteria (as I understand it), are interpreted.
1. Must have a disability that interferes with or diminishes a person's ability to compete evenly in the workforce.
2. Must be permanent.

The political party in power when I got in understood that a disabled person might be able to work a few hours, but if they were one of 20 people who turned up for a job interview, they'd be the last person to get the job. Thus 'adverse impact'. A person on disability might still work and join disability focused job clubs, but being on disability instead of unemployment means not having to fulfil all the same requirements in futile equal competition.

By contrast, our current conservative government seems to believe that nobody should be on disability unless they're quadruple amputees in coma and matching iron lung.

Anyhoo, my main point is that on the question of whether or not autism is a disability or not, is viewed from the perspective of impact on the ability to compete evenly for any and all jobs one might be qualified for.

If it is not significantly detrimental to you, then you're not disabled.

If your specific autistic makeup can be shown to impact on your employability, you're disabled. It doesn't mean you should give up or not work. It means that it may be an additional factor to be recognised, factored into, and mitigated re. your work/career plans.