The term disability vs. issues, differences, special needs

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Hey guys. I'd like to talk semantics here, relating to my interest in how neurodiverse kids are treated - specifically, my future neurodiverse kids. So, having grown up in inner city special ed for part of my childhood, I dug around a bit since I'm not comfortable with how a lot of districts handle sp. ed. kids. This leads to the semantic issue. While reading a lot of these articles, a lot of them say that everyone in special ed is "disabled", or that they have "disabilities". It shouldn't bother me. It really shouldn't. But because of the implications of 'disability', it does.

A lot of kids do improve enough to enter mainstream classes. They had learning challenges or behavioral issues (this is regardless of autistic status), help was given, and the goal of special ed was met. Auties learned coping skills. Issues, special needs, and challenges are good words to use here. Kids who acted out or were very much behind went to stricter special ed schools or classrooms in the system, then evaluations were made that did indicate they had gotten better. They learned anger management, or they needed a different way to learn to read. But it was eventually resolved, like physical therapy for an injury (maybe bad term to use here?)

Disability is different. Maybe I'm not grokking something here, but disability doesn't get better afaik. When I think of disability rather than disorder, I think of somebody who is very profoundly intellectually challenged, or who is physically disabled. (Not knocking physically disabled folks here.) I don't know if disability is the right word to use for someone who is a slow learner, or for all but the most severe autistics. Or for folks with mood disorders.

As a special ed alum and an autistic, I've worked from my teens, went to college, and live a financially independent life. Thanks, school system! I feel lucky that this hasn't been a real issue for me. A huge amount of autistics live independently, although many of us can't. To me, it's a difference, I have different challenges from NTs. NTs have challenges that I don't have - does this mean that they are disabled? My bipolar friends don't consider themselves disabled, but as people with a difference, maybe issues/condition or special needs. There are actually Aspies and BPers I know who haven't had challenges in years. In my community disability is associated with receiving SSI. Not that there's anything wrong with that but, do we want to write off our real abilities?

Is there something I'm not getting here? Why would the word disability, not condition or disorder, be used so much in media and news when autistics and LD folks do learn skills, improve? What happened to the "difference, not a disability" push for auties / aspies, because it really is a different ability + form of diversity for many people, like how being Deaf is a culture? Is disability the new PC term, like people of color means ethnic minorities? (I cringed when I heard 'people of color' for the first time. It sounded like 'colored'.) If anyone knows, educate me. Let me know the rationale. Thank you.

It's not the term that needs to be changed; it's peoples attitudes. You can call it whatever you want: if a person is prejudiced against people with disabilities, s/he will be regardless of whether or not the term "disability" is actually used. I don't mind the term because I do not have the ability to do some things neurotypical people can. That is a DISability. I am a lot better at other things that some NTs are, but it doesn't change the fact that I still have a disability.

I'm glad you brought up this issue. It's easy to write off semantics as being superficial and irrelevant to the cause, but the truth is, on an issue such as this, words do have great importance. Language is how we frame the entire issue, and influences greatly the popular perception of it.

There are still those, both NT and on the spectrum, who are pushing for the "not wrong, just different" model-- including myself. For people on the outside of it, I imagine there may be a tendency to think of this as another example of political correctness gone awry and trying to place controls on perspectives that could be deemed "offensive". That isn't the way I see it, though. I genuinely believe, given my experiences with AS myself, that "not wrong, just different" encapsulates the condition much more accurately than framing it as a "disorder" or a "disability". What does "disability" even mean? It's such a broad term that depending on the context, I think one could argue anyone is disabled in one way or another.

When I was a senior year fine art major, I was offered a tremendous opportunity, as a student, an artist, and an Aspie, to speak on my behalf at a symposium on the relationship between neuroscience and art hosted jointly by my college and UBC. I was one of four speakers in a breakout session about autism. Before the panel discussion and questions from the audience, I presented a small speech and slide show of my work. In my speech, I came up with an altogether different term entirely:

For me, it's the permanence of the term 'disability' that is problematic. People's experiences of conditions such as autism, learning difficulties, bipolar and the like change throughout life. Sometimes they are disabling, and sometimes they are not, regardless of one's diagnosis status.

Many autistics do not have the ability to do some things NTs can, but many of these autistics also have abilities that most NTs do not (hence, difference, not disability). That is the question here, and the changeability / neuroplasticity of abilities throughout one's lifetime that can lead a person to change from disabled, to nondisabled, and vice versa. People can be Aspie as children, more profoundly autistic as adults, etc.

Describing my experience as a 'disability' is like saying a heavyset guy is 'disabled' from fitting into skinny jeans. He may have a predisposition to weight gain, but that doesn't mean the weight can't be controlled through diet. Many (but not all) autistics may have a predisposition to behave and think in certain ways, but that doesn't mean they're set in stone. Just my $.02...

My abilities changed a lot during my life.

If I had been perceived as disabled from a young age, then I would not have gotten as many chances to learn as I ackshuly got. I got many chances to learn, because I was perceived as gifted, but different, verry merry berry.

For eggsample, I got a chance to learn language eggsplicitly to overcome my basic communication impairments. Today, many autistic children are not being given this chance, because they are perceived as disabled and incapable of learning language, if they don't make progress in programs that don't work for them.

I work at an autism non-profit. Many of the kids are perceived as disabled and incapable by their teachers and therapists, so they are not being taught many things that they could learn, if only the perception of them were different, if only they were thought of as kids who thought differently and learned differently, if only they were taught differently, and the accommodations for these differences don't even have to be huge. There is not much help being given to the kids who are not on the mild part of the spectrum, who haven't been taught the basics of anything, just because they were perceived as disabled and incapable due to their autism label, lack of language skills, lack of communication skills, and/or below average IQ scores. Years of ABA and ST didn't work for most of the kids who were not mild. The whole system is a self-fulfilling prophecy of you can't learn, so we won't teach you, so you won't learn, and we won't teach you. The kids do nothing in the special education classroom at one of the top public high schools in the country. Same for grade school, junior high, and private schools in my area.

By definition, Asperger's Disorder is disabling by the DSM-IV-TR ("quite disabling" is a direct quote).

If you want it to be called a difference, well, why not just don't say you have it? It's a clinical entity that has overwhelming supporting evidence that says it's a disorder that is disabling.

Also, If you don't have any problems, no disability in comparison to matched peers, then how would you know you have it? Why would you be said to have it? Why would you even look it up? Why would you care at all? It doesn't make sense.

This is why I consider describing Asperger's as having a different brain structure is far more accurate of a description than having a disability. With early diagnosis, and proper education in coping and working with it, there isn't a net disability. In fact, you can have an advantage above many others. Is someone with a photographic memory disabled? No. Their mind is a different configuration than most others. And, likewise, our minds are simply a different structure than what's typical.

Autistic people are disabled. That's part of the criteria. Now, there might be some BAP people who aren't disabled, but who might, have autistic children.

Now, some of the disability isn't medical, but societal. Nonetheless, that doesn't take away from the fact that we're disabled.

It is fine for autistic adults to consider themselves disabled or different or whatever, I don't care.

It is not fine for autistic children to be considered by others to be disabled and incapable. Yes, they are disabled and incapable according to the typical ways of thinking and learning and doing. I could not learn to speak or use language in the typical way, and if someone had not taught me a different way according to how my brain works, then who knows what language skills I would have today? Same for the kids at my office. When they are taught in their ways, they are not disabled. I don't see the disability in them. I see abilities that can be developed. They think and learn and do things in their own ways. Instead of talking at them to teach them things, teach them to read and show them what you are saying to them on a card. Show the written words while you are speaking to them. That eliminates the auditory and speech processing problems that many of us have, our disability when we need to listen to hoooman speech and understand it, not a big deal when we get to read the words that people are saying. However, that is not happening in schools, because the kids are considered disabled and incapable of learning to read.

Right now, the problem with the idear of disability is that disabled people can't do anything, and there's no point to teach a disabled kid anything. That idear is wrong, but I ain't gonna sit around waiting for it to change. I'm not even going to fight for it to change. That fight is too abstract for me to fight. I am disabled in fighting that fight. I am capable of fighting a different, moar moar moar concrete fight. I'm gonna consider the kids different from the norm, like I am, and I'm gonna use their thinking and my thinking like them to figure out ways to teach them differently according to how our brains work. Figure out the ways, make the materials, try them out, no one's got anything to lose. Accommodations like moar moar moar time and quiet room to take tests are worthless if you have not been taught the reading comprehension to understand the farking questions.

It's not even about a PC thing - immigrants do face struggles and issues (I guess that makes them "culturally / linguistically disabled").

To all those saying - Aspergers, BAP - I would feel like identifying as disabled is disingenuous for me, and my diagnosis isn't Asperger's. There are abled and disabled people on all parts of the spectrum, though probabilities as to whether you will be disabled or not on each part of the spectrum differ.

If we're talking semantics here, the Social Security Act defines a disability as:

" inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months. " That excludes a lot of folks on this board.

Like btbnnyr said, adults can identify as disabled. Children cannot make the choice in how they are educated and treated, especially if their status intersects with other categories (poverty, minority, parents work long hours, more profound autism, rural, inner city).

When we write off children with the permanence of the term disabled instead of as having conditions, or special needs that can improve, we are writing off their futures and not encouraging them to move forward. We are writing off the process of mainstreaming + transition, of creating the most functional citizens we can. Every child deserves hope and second chances.

Disability doesn't mean incapable, but that doesn't change that autistic individuals are impaired at doing major life activities which makes them disabled.

Being disabled does not mean that we cannot learn. Being disabled does not mean that we cannot have abilities that most people do not have. Being disabled doesn't mean we won't grow and improve and figure out how to live our lives.

But this isn't true for people with other sorts of disabilities either. Sure a blind person won't become sighted, but will learn how to work around being blind. An autistic person will learn how to work around being autistic and will build up coping skills and better integrate themselves into society as well.

Being disabled does not make any statements about capabilities other than significant impairment in major life activities. Communication is a major life activity, even when its not speaking. We are socially impaired at that level, even when we are capable of a lot more.

Being disabled doesn't men that you need to be on SSI. It doesn't mean that you need full time help. It doesn't mean that you'll never be employed.

It does mean that because of your impairments you should get accommodations while you are working. It does mean that you get help in various situations. It does mean those little times that when what you're capable of doesn't match what society expects, there are resources to get you help.

I am disabled. I'm not ashamed of this fact. I will not hide this fact. I will not let people tell me that being disabled is only for people who are more impaired than I am, because of the fact that I can walk and speak and explain myself.