Do you consider your autism a disability?

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I'm curious what other autistics think.

It may be a hidden disability but it's still a disability non the less

some have more severe symptoms than others.

It affects how you develop, how you perceive the world, you're more overwhelmed with sensory overload, your a bit more dis co ordinate with associated symptoms such as dyspraxia, you're more at risk of chronic fatigue. Affects you life long.
Even with education ect, relationships or general struggles, especially misunderstandings, communication ect

Never worked
No friends
Can't drive a car
Can't go far without being accompanied
Low practical intelligence
Function considerably worse without support
EF difficulties , especially organising and planning

That proves,for sure, ASD is not a disability.

I think it affects mood and support systems.

I think that not anyone who has autism has to be disabled. Some people with autism are very high-functioning and they do not require support. In my country people with mild pervasive developmental disorders do not receive ruling of disability. I think that having "mild ASD" like Asperger's (Asperger's is quite often assumed to be a mild ASD/PDD, mild form of autism) does not mean that you have so mild symptoms that you should not have ruling of disability or that you do not require support. Only people with VERY mild autism/ASD/PDD are not disabled IMO.

I really don't know.

I don't exactly know for sure if I am on the spectrum. I believe I am.

The anxiety and the shutdowns in partial and full forms are the issues for me because now I am older things seem to effect me more.
It is more difficult to do things which I used to take for granted due to several burnouts which have hit me over the last decade, and each one hit me worse then it did the time before.
Another issue is due to anxiety I can need to drink a lot (I am not talking alcohol) and so I find that I need the loo a lot, which as I am not officially dissabled, I often have no where to go so the places I can go in the evenings are restricted as only dissabled loos with a special key remain open in the evenings.
It is not a big deal as long as I can keep to rural areas where I can find a field to nip into when no one is looking. It is the urban areas I have to avoid, so if I travel after late afternoon I have to head north and west, as if I head east it gets more urban and I can go miles without a toilet and there is no where I can go without the risk of being seen.

These days I don't think I can work. It is not that I am not physically able bodily wize. It is more that anxiety, and shutdowns effect me directly in physical ways.
As I am typing, I am stressed so I am taking a much needed break from tidying my bedroom. I leave it get into a mess...Not good! (It is things which I can be too stressed to put away that I then find I don't see to them and then one day I need to tidy up (Like today) and sometimes I look and I can't even think how to start. Once I can think of a method, and another method and another I can carry on if I avoid the stress. Is when someone says something or I go into one of my many distractions is where I have the difficulties. Ooh. I am distracted now writing this! "Grr!" Haha!

Yes, I'd be a fool not to since it's unlikely that i'd ever be abel to get a job. Whether that's because of comorbids or not is the line is blury. but Considering I can't function independently and have to rely on my family alot. I'd be a fool not to. Not to mention that it's both factually a disability and i'm getting SSI for it. i'd be a fool not to.

I suppose that I will never be able to function at normal job market in my life on Earth. I would say that I can't work for earning money. I am slow and it does not mean that the work will be done precisely and professionally by me.

I have "small" successes - I had very simple jobs in my life when I was about 25 - 27 years old, one was without any contract and was done only by about one hour by eight days and second one was much longer, but I got it due to certificate of disability (moderate level (larger than mild, lower than severe, special illness which gives signifcantly larger financial benefits than in the case of non-special illness with the same level of disability) and it was also a very simple job. I have never had the job in cleaning or security (such a jobs are most popular among offers for people with disabilities). I rather can't live in my home on my own and rather require help of other family members. I have never had a girlfriend and even didn't try to receive a driving licence despite being above 28,5 years old now. I have no colleagues and close friends.

I was diagnosed with Asperger's in professional centre in 2008 when I was about 17 years old. In similar time I got diagnosis of OCD also and started to get meds. In 2015 I was diagnosed with schizophrenia-type disorder in addition to AS and OCD. Now I got three medications each day (one in two "forms"). I have social pension and care allowance due to my disability which started early enough to get these financial benefits.

Yes, it is disabling for me and most of the autistics I know.

Because of my autism, I can’t work, can’t drive, can’t take care of myself by myself and will probably never live on my own, and can’t even reliably speak understandably/at all. The only benefit I seem to have gotten was the stereotypical Aspie memory, until I was almost through high school, but I didn’t keep it at all after that, not by a long shot (now I’ve been known to actively be watching TV and forget which show is on during commercial breaks ). So at least now, I’d say my autism is absolutely a disability and I really don’t get any benefits in return.

My real disability is my brain's and body's state that I've been coping and figuring out how to treat, not my neurology or systems.

More like my stomach, my sleep, my hormones, my intolerances, my thresholds and whatever vulnerabilities' reaction I end up with.

That may or may not include possibilities of overlooked learning disabilities and difficulties that I happened to worked around very well.


So yeah, I'm disabled.
But I intend to be a very well compensated disabled more than capable of taking care of myself, instead of a helpless one.

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