Being Labelled disabled

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Does anyone feel somehow "Undeserving" of being called disabled, or as if there are people with worse issues who are "truly disabled"

Maybe you try and actively reject the label preferring instead to define your difficulties as positive traits to be embraced

Last edited by binaryodes on 22 May 2014, 3:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It depends on what kind of day I'm having as to whether or not I feel like I fit the word "disabled". If it's a good day and I'm conversing normally with my friends, not being bothered by sensory stimuli (or at least being minimally bothered) and generally feeling as though I'm passing for NT, then I don't feel disabled. On bad days however, such as when I have meltdowns, reach sensory overload, or do something stupid conversationally, then I generally feel pretty disabled, and I have moments where I hate myself and my AS for it. This happens after meltdowns especially; I feel stupid for behaving like a child and allowing myself to lose control, not to mention guilty about anything I may have damaged. At times like that, I wish I didn't have AS.

Well, I am actually disabled. Y'know, I am not like Sheldon, a genius with straight As with some social issues. No matter how the media represent it or how people think it is cool or genius-like or how the definition of it has been changed by the internet subculture into something much milder in the last 5 years, Asperger's is a real disability.
Yes, there are people who have worse disabilities, and I am glad I don't have something severer than Asperger's, but acknowledging that there are people who have severer disabilities doesn't make my disability fade away. When you have a broken finger does the pain stop if they tell you that some people have it worse because they broke their leg? It is the same thing.

I don't think that I have ever felt undeserving of being called disabled. But I do know what you mean about feeling that there are people with worse issues being "truly disabled."

But just because there are people who are "more disabled" than me, doesn't mean that I am not disabled. It's just that my difficulties aren't as severe. But just because my difficulties are less severe, it does not mean my difficulties are not disabling.

And there is also the fact that I am more disabled in some areas that other people, and the areas that they have trouble with, might not be areas that I personally struggle in.

If it means I about £170 in disability living allowance every month then call it me all you want.

Honestly, I've been called numerous other things in my life so disabled is one of the nicer ones. But I don't consider myself quite "disabled" cause I can still do the things like communicate, it's just harder. But I'm thankful I fall under the ADA or I'd still be in the checkstand freaking out.

I don't like to think of people as more or less disabled than others. You either are or are not disabled. People can be affected much more severely in some ways rather than in others. I like to think of it this way because I am very high functioning and many people spend a lot of time and energy trying to convince me that I am not disabled. But they don't live in my mind and in my body so no matter how normal or abled I might look, the reality is that my life is impaired and sometimes very much impaired by my issues. And I struggle daily because of my issues. So am I as severely affected as a quadriplegic mentally ret*d person? No. Am I disabled? Yes. Am I less deserving of being recognized as a disabled person, no. And the fact that some people think that I am less deserving and thus refuse to recognize me as one makes my challenges even more difficult. Whether you are affected very severely or not as much when you compare yourself to someone else, if you are disabled you are disabled and you deserve to be recognized that way when you need to be. You can't say that you deserve or don't deserve to be called disabled by how severe your disability is. If you have a disability according to the clinical definition of that disability then you have it and you deserve to be recognized as disabled just like anybody else who has one.

Well when you only work part time because even the smallest stress gets to you. When you leave a great relationship because you cannot handle the thought of changing your lifestyle and routines. When only slightly pressured or overwhelmed you cannot speak properly. When you get fired from jobs because you are to slow and cannot focus on the external world. Id say that's pretty disabled for being caused by my autistic symptoms.

Then add in ocd hell on top of all this.

There's a reason why I live a simple life.

I see myself "culturally disabled" - I cannot slot into the NT dominant culture which is designed for and by NTs. A bit like the ugly duckling who got bullying and shame from the ducks until he/she discovered she was not a disabled duck but a beautiful swan.

am severely disabled and recieve life time awards of both high rate care and high rate mobility of DLA or PIP [havent a clue which one am on], but just because am severely disabled doesnt mean have to see it in a negative way,'severely disabled' is just a statement of recognition that am significantly impacted by society failing to adapt,understand and give a damn.
it doesnt stop self from seeing disability in a neutral way with no limitations other than when complex needs clash with society.

Baby swans always become adult swans, provided they are able to withstand the "ugly duckling stage."

Same kinda feeling here, except over all I don't think AS should be classed as disabled where just not good in areas the other people are as they are not good in areas we are! End of the day though we are all individuals.

I can't speak for others, but for me this is far from the truth. I do not actively reject the label. I have more or less accepted it as just the way it is. Sure there are times when I am upset and I feel like "why me? why do I have to have so much trouble doing such simple things?" Frankly, having a disability stinks. By definition, it is limiting. I do not want to be disabled, and I do not embrace the parts of autism that make me disabled. Yes I am diagnosed with AS, but it is not the social skills bit that is actually disabling for me. It is more the sensory integration bit and the difficulty with change and such that cause me real problems. On top of that, I have pretty severe generalized anxiety disorder to the point that panic attacks are a "normal" part of life for me. Then add in slow processing speed, ADHD, and learning difficulties, and I don't end up with something that is "fun" to deal or that I want to "embrace."

But there are positive parts of autism, but they are only positive when they are not causing me to be disabled. I embrace the positive parts that enable me to do things within my mind that ordinarily people can't do. I understand the world in a different way, and that is the part that I embrace. I don't embrace the meltdowns, sensory overloads, or panic attacks. In fact, all evening I have be sitting in a different room from my family and friends because I am unable to deal with the noises and movement of 8 people eating dinner together and talking and laughing. I want to be out in the kitchen with them. I do not want to have eat my dinner in a separate room and then be unable to finish it because the texture and taste makes it impossible for me to do so. These difficulties are not positive in any way.

I don't like being labeled disabled. In ways I am with my learning and with anxiety and if I am on SSDI. My mom says I am not disabled. I don't feel that way either because I can do lot of stuff like drive, hold a job, clean, take care of myself, pay bills, go out in public without a problem.

You are either disabled or you are not disabled.

However, some people have disabilities that are more of a challenge to live with than do others.

Well I am on SSI which implies a disability, so yeah I don't really care about that label....so I lack abilities in some areas that people generally don't, has made it to the point where I cannot hold a job currently so yeah I certainly do see myself as having disabilities. But I try hard not to feel bad about it or like it makes me inferior which is hard sometimes since I have essentially non-existant self esteem/confidence whatever and depression issues, but I know I should not be ashamed about it. It also pisses me off when people imply most on SSI are frauds or if they are on it for mental conditions they are undeserving and should just get work...its like people act like its some sort of wonderful free ride and its as simple as going in and saying 'I have depression, give me benefits' or something well its not its a ton of paperwork, stress, having to go to a hearing and then its not even much of an income to speak of.

At least with SSDI people on it can come back with 'I paid into the system' when people b*tch about taxes going to welfare.