Do you want to Autism label to continue?

Post Reply New Topic

I guess part of my mentality has been my frustration with the ability of the label itself to do much. I've had a bad week so I'll be venting.

I have the label. It seems largely to describe my behavior. No one in my family or school was particularly compelled to do anything on account of the label. I just...had it.

Self-disclosing doesn't do much. My mentality is that we've always had people who failed to pick up on nonverbal cues; we've always had geeks. We've always had those with sensory sensitivities and all that. Some of these people fit full criteria for ASD, some don't. NT society doesn't even begin to give a darn unless you hand them the dx, which is really just a mental health professional confirming that you in fact have the behaviors that you have and others have observed in you. It frequently doesn't do much to give more information to the other person, or explain your specific characteristics. It may in fact have a more alienating effect. Some people may start to see you as more strange, more unpredictable, more "other". You really don't know if you're doing yourself a favor or not when you self disclose. (And what am I self disclosing? That I am odd or don't pick up on social cues? Has this not already been observed by other people? Why should I need this label to justify myself?)

I go through so many misinterpreted cues and faux paus in a day. The label has a very minor effect on whether or not these things will be accepted. I don't just tell everyone that I'm Autistic and we all dance into the sunset.

Therapy typically does little because therapists can't correct behaviors that they don't see, and I can't always communicate what I'm doing wrong. That's part of being Autistic, I guess. NTs who do see my faux paus won't usually comment on them to me, which is part of their etiquette. So I don't really improve. Even if I did explain the misinterpretation, the perception by others that I am odd or unpredictable remains.

If the solution is to work through the label and get NTs to perceive Autistics positively, that's a tall order but okay. Currently, a lot of the focus on Autism acceptance stresses savant skills and Autistic strengths that not all Autistic people have. Trying to get NTs to genuinely appreciate Autistics as a label might be achievable, but I don't see practical results at the moment.

And all in all, I'm also frustrated at all this talk of loving my autism and being proud of it. What am I supposed to be proud of? I offend people without meaning to. I can't connect with 99% of people out there. My routines cause my family to yell at me. My special interests are nice but exasperate others. My intense daydreaming freaks people out. Many of the symptoms of Autism were identified in the diagnosis due to difficulty they caused patients, with the intent of categorizing them as disease. How can we put a positive spin on it and tell people to love us? I cry on a regular basis and fight the urge to self harm. I can't tell anyone to love me right now. Autism acceptance movements don't give advice on how to promote Autism acceptance when your behaviors are by and large viewed negatively. I've never found a structured template on how to help all the Autistic people (I'm guessing most of us) who are suffering from ostracization on a day to day basis and can't do anything about it. I cannot wave around a tattoo that says "I'm Autistic" and launch into a spiel about myself every new semester.

Not to mention how comorborbid anxiety and OCD plays into lmao...

I'm not saying get rid of the label, I get that we need it. I'm saying that in an ideal world we wouldn't need it. Focus on the label does little because NTs don't like the way we act.

I'm sorry if I offended anyone here, I'm not saying that we shouldn't have the label rn. I'm just frustrated with therapists and experts acting like the label that has made very little headway in social acceptance for me is some magic bullet and being proud of myself (I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be proud of) is going to help at all. I'm sick of people asking me if I'm "really" autistic when I tell them the label, to which I have to talk about what the label actually is (a diagnostic tool used to provide treatment for and do research on people with correlated sets of behavior) and what it is not (afaik, a discrete physiological illness with specific recognizable symptoms) and justify myself. I'm sick of constantly hoping for connections and constantly burning bridges and reinforcing to myself that I'm a bad person. And I know that the long term solution is acceptance of specific behaviors, not the dx itself, which can't in and of itself explain all of our behaviors to people.

In my opinion, it's a personal option.

Doesn't matter if one calls themselves autistic or a persons with several comorbids roll in one -- the outcomes the same, the struggles the same, the supports needed is the same.


If dropping or changing labels, or giving the most resonating label a backward spin is a way for you to be able to live better or gain insight about yourself, then do it.

Gained Number Post Count (1).
Lose Time (n).

Lose more time here - Updates at least once a week.

Im still not sure what many in the autism community mean by "acceptance"?

As far as im concerned we are accepted in so far as the gov doesnt persecute us, supports adults via social security, equality laws & housing, tries to do its best with children with todays medical technology via aba and therapy etc..

I find nearly everyone in society rather accepting also. I dont see anyone like my neighbours reacting in disgust at the mention of autism, nearly every stranger ive ever met is quite understanding and agreeable when they know. Many of course are still ignorent but thats an educational thing.

Of couse parents and relatives dont want their children too have a serious developmental disorder, who does? They would have to be pretty disturbed to want their child to be non verbal or to go through life with serious problems that prevent them from forming relationships or getting a job.

Of course the gov takes steps to reduce the impact of autism, it costs alot of money in special ed and social security when some people are unable to be educated normaly or eventually work. More money paying for autism means less for roads, stealth bombers and hospitals its ecconomics 101.

LGBT rights dont cost anything, its just a social change thats easy with the demise of religion.

But autism is costly to many because its a disability. Costly to families, the gov, society in general but most of all to the individual concerned, which is why a medical disorder can be never be an identity and why total acceptance can never happen.

I agree that there should be more emploment opportunities for us and more public education on what autism is.

However i remain very suspicious of the whole "acceptance" thing.

No other negative medical condition uses such terms and while"acceptance" can mean many things like not being mean to sufferers, there like the term "diversity" has its darker side.

Those in the extremist minority who wish to impose their no cure no treatment demands on us because it suits their ego.

They know their demands generally fail the common sense test of public opinion, so they use political correctness terms of comparing themselves to LGBT & race relations to advance their cause.

The "dont you dare touch my autism" crowd", while i respect their personal wishes not to be cured, they dont have the right to speak for me against my wishes or limit my potential future treatments.

Ive said many times LGBT and race are non comparable for lots of reasons. One because those groups were generally all on the same page with what they wanted and acceptance had little negative cost on society, both human and financially in a way that a disability does.