Why is it a disability?????

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That doesn't mean that impairments and disabilities are the same thing or that everyone who is impaired is disabled.



I never said there was a clear line. I said they weren't the same thing, that it is possible for someone to be impaired and not disabled, and that the difference between the two matters. To say that because people are impaired they are necessarily disabled is false, and does cause problems.

Yes. They're closely related. But as I said before, disability requires limiting of major life activities and impairment doesn't. And it is possible for people to be impaired and not disabled.

In particular for the autistic spectrum for people in the US, communication, self care, and working are all considered a major life activities in the ADA.

But that does not mean that every person on the spectrum is necessarily disabled. It means that disability is common. Every person on the autistic spectrum is impaired. Disability however, is not defined by the diagnosis, its defined by people's capabilities. When it comes to blindness - the person can't see, not being able to see is limiting of a major life activity. When it comes to autism, people vary. Not every person is the same. Not every person is the same through out their entire life even.

Surely, it depends on what your problems are (in relation to AS) as to whether it's disabling? For example, some have sensory issues, which can be disabling.

the way I see it is. you either learn what causes your problems then you find solutions so you can live your life. you can let them control you and wallow in the dark and do nothing or you can try and live life to the best of your ability. when you give up before you even try, that is when you are disabled in my view. its like someone in a wheelchair, sure they cant do everything but they still work around their problems. sure their legs dont work but that does not stop them from doing everything.



just because you have a disability does not mean you have to let it disable you and stop you from doing what you want to do. I have lived my entire life this way, sure I have impairments but, I dont let them stop me from doing what I love. I learned to work around my impairments.

Because it can interfere with ones ability to function in this society.

Autism has been defined to have a common inherent element that limits a major life activity, per bodily functioning as blindness inherently limits one's ability to see. In the case of autism it is an inherent limit of brain functioning; the same limit in bodily functioning described in intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia, as detailed below. And also if one may notice; Autism, by legal description, is not considered to present an inherent limit in neurological function as that limitation is applicable to epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and muscular dystrophy

Per the laws that govern the ADA as clarified by the EEOC, Autism Spectrum Disorders by the inherent nature of the disorders substantially limit brain function,and as a factual matter, will virtually always be found to impose a substantial limitation on a major life activity, meeting the ADA definition of disability. Autism is considered an inherently disabling condition by US code among the other disorders listed below that limit bodily functioning, as detailed below in the quote from US code.

The communication, self care, and working impairments are impairments that potentially limit a major area of life functioning above and beyond the inherent limit of brain functioning in Autism Spectrum Disorders, as indicated as well in the quote below.

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr;sid=83e0ea4a62b22c4cc11f8f2fa84b660c;rgn=div5;view=text;node=29%3A4.1.4.1.20;idno=29;cc=ecfr#29:4.1.4.1.20.0.26.2

what major life activities does autism impair?

No, but it does mean that the line between the two is not always obvious, or even particularly significant.



To say people who are merely "impaired" are not really "disabled" can be false and does cause problems.



My mother has MS. She works, can communicate, and can perform self-care activities.

She's still disabled.

I also know blind people, people in wheelchairs, people whose schizophrenia is controlled with medication, ect. who nevertheless work and can take care of themselves to varying degrees. They're still disabled.



If you're not impaired/disabled, you do not have autism.

Last edited by XFilesGeek on 19 Aug 2012, 4:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Disabled means disabled.

It's not a matter of "trying harder." Whether or not you are "disabled" doesn't come down to a matter of "personal virtue."



Thank you, Aghogday.

I find it interesting that they use the phrase "significantly limit."

It's different for everyone; but in my case it's: sensory stuff, communication, need for routine, etc.

what kind of sensory stuff are you reffering too?

Per the legal definition above the common inherent impairment is Brain Functioning, for those that meet the criteria for an autism spectrum disorder. Per criteria, to even meet the Aspergers diagnosis, in the DSMIV, one must be clinically impaired in an important area of life functioning.

Depending on the disorder ranging from Childhood Disintegrative disorder to Aspergers the major life activity areas in bold below may be observed as clinically impaired. If one considers Co-morbid conditions there is the potential of more major areas of life functioning impaired.

When one looks at the details, it is no wonder that the government has determined that Autism Spectrum Disorders are inherently disabling, per limit of brain functioning. And there are those on the spectrum with conditions like regressive autism and childhood disintegrative disorder that have every one of these impairments in bold, as well as additional potential impairments associated with co-morbid conditions. Many of these potential disabilities associated with autism spectrum disorders are of inherent biological origin, and are definitely not created from a social model of disability, as some of these individuals are completely reliant on others for survival, because of their inherent disabilities.

At least to me, it is unsettling, that some people actually do not think that some of these problems directly related to ASD's, warrant research into better diagnosis, causation, prevention, treatments, therapies, or what some may define as cure. This is the reality of life for some individuals on the spectrum. Some seem to refuse to acknowledge this reality or accept it, and some show offense, if one dares to portray the reality that it is.

Children with Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, are rarely even discussed or acknowledged as part of the spectrum. And Rett's syndrome appears to be moving out of the realm of ASD's, in the DSM5; I did not include the impairments of that disorder in this analysis of the impact of potential impairments in major life activities.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002502/

https://askjan.org/media/medical.htm

Hypersensitivity to light (noise issues aren't Autism related) and texture, hyposensitivity to pressure / pain.

It is significant because accommodations are dependent on disability.



I never said people were "merely "impaired" and not really "disabled.". I said impairment and disability are not the same thing and to make them the same thing causes problems. Not every person who is impaired is disabled. This is not about autism. This is about disability as a whole. With disability being a legal construct, I cannot make statements about everywhere in the world and autism's status, but what I have generally said and will generally say is that every person is impaired and likely most people are disabled.




These are not the only things that are "major life activities" and you know this, as I've also mentioned sight as a major life activity. These are examples listed in the ADA as major life activities that are specifically relevant to autism. They are not a complete list. There is explicitly not a complete list in the ADA anyways. These are three which are in particular relevant to autism.



I have said many times that if you are not impaired you don't have autism. That still does not make impairment the same as disability.

Someone who needs glasses does not get covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. They are impaired. People with mood disorders who can still take care of themselves aren't covered. It's not that simple.

When it comes to autism, its quite difficult to not meet it, but I've been thinking about disability as a whole as well in here.

I think it is to clarify that it is a limit in brain function than can be consistently observed and measured beyond what one sees in the general population, as one can do this when diagnosing an individual with an autism spectrum disorder in the areas of social communication/RRB's, in the higher functioning areas of autism spectrum disorders, as well as the inability for self care, as severely debilitating for some, by example of some of those that are impacted by Childhood Disintegrative Disorder or Regressive autism.

However, as human beings are social animals, and successful social interaction is an integral part of survival in life, an impairment in this area, alone, can definitely provide a major source of disability in life. A serious areas of potential disability also, in most all of the mental disorders, listed in US code, described as substantially limiting brain function.

I was not talking in the legal construct but in the affect of a disability on your life. more like a state of mind.

Thank you, aghogday, I appreciate your informative contribution very much in many posts you have written.

I show impairment in caring for oneself, performing tasks as in executive functioning, where I guess, but I am not entirely sure, it is more the organisation of tasks in your mind in order to be able to perform them, hearing as in not being able to differenciate between noises, eating, sleeping, walking as in having a "weird gate" and feeling insecure in it and regulary bumping into things, sitting as my muscle tonus is weak, reaching, speaking in terms of synchronisation, breathing as when in being hyper-aroused, learning, concentrating (on non-SI's), communicating, interacting with others and working.

In the bodily functions it contains - I don't know which is meant by "special sense organs and skin", but I have auditive and visual and taktile sensory issues, bowel, brain, respiratory in hyper-arousal, and circulatory.