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“for me, being autistic is brilliant, not a burden”

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rse92
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10 Feb 2023, 10:57 am

The very first sentence reeks of pretention. "I don’t see being autistic as 'having' a disorder." The air quotes, and then putting them as emphasis on the wrong word. I'm pretty sure from the rest of the article, from the very next sentence in fact, he meant to say "I don't see being autistic as having a 'disorder'".

EDIT: i may have misunderstood him. However, I do find the article pretentious.



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10 Feb 2023, 11:05 am

So much of the time .. on a average day ... am feeling so run down that all i have is a mind that works but
even then it can get foggy.. pretty much on a unpredictble basis . But i do understand concepts pretty well
( better than average when feeling okay) :roll:


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24 Feb 2023, 4:04 pm

Is autism a disorder? That can be hard to determine for people who are high functioning. For people who have a severe cases and don't notice any benefits from it, yes, it's a disorder. It's also what makes us who we are. It can help many people achieve in areas they could otherwise succeed in. For those whose children need services to be able to have much chance of being able to function adequately, saying that it's not a disorder makes it harder for them to receie services.


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24 Feb 2023, 4:30 pm

MagicMeerkat wrote:
I don't suffer from autism, I suffer from the arrogance and apathy of other people. Things that bother me don't bother other people, things that do bother me don't bother other people. I feel like functioning labels for autistic people depend on how much of a "burden" other people find that person to be.

I agree. Most of our problems in life come from inter-personal struggles, i.e. problems with other people, not being Autistic itself.



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24 Feb 2023, 5:27 pm

carlos55 wrote:
Putting the condition before the person is de-humanising.


^^^ This is why I have a problem with the neurodiverse movement. There is a tendency to put the condition before the person. In reality people with autism just want the same things as everyone else, to be accepted as just another person.

This is precisely why I get obsessed with race for the same reason. The construct is put before being a human. But it boils down to the same thing. People are not a label.



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24 Feb 2023, 7:39 pm

cyberdad wrote:
carlos55 wrote:
Putting the condition before the person is de-humanising.


^^^ This is why I have a problem with the neurodiverse movement. There is a tendency to put the condition before the person. In reality people with autism just want the same things as everyone else, to be accepted as just another person.

This is precisely why I get obsessed with race for the same reason. The construct is put before being a human. But it boils down to the same thing. People are not a label.


no one says 'person with blackness' as opposed to person with autism


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24 Feb 2023, 8:13 pm

Readydaer wrote:
no one says 'person with blackness' as opposed to person with autism


I had an American friend living in Melbourne some 30 years ago who shared a house with another American so they were both from the states. They both got along like they were brothers, they were so close. One day I asked him, so what's it like sharing a house with a black guy? My friend gave me a response that gave me hope for the world. He said, "you know what" "I was so happy to meet another American living here it never entered my head about his skin colour".

He just "happened be black"

I would like one day to see NTs think the same way with people who "happen to have autism"



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24 Feb 2023, 9:28 pm

cyberdad wrote:
Readydaer wrote:
no one says 'person with blackness' as opposed to person with autism


I had an American friend living in Melbourne some 30 years ago who shared a house with another American so they were both from the states. They both got along like they were brothers, they were so close. One day I asked him, so what's it like sharing a house with a black guy? My friend gave me a response that gave me hope for the world. He said, "you know what" "I was so happy to meet another American living here it never entered my head about his skin colour".

He just "happened be black"

I would like one day to see NTs think the same way with people who "happen to have autism"



the problem is, for NDs it's hard to get along with anyone who isn't also ND (at least for me). There's no connection or brotherhood because the brains are wired differently, and it's not as simple as 'getting along.' I'm not saying it's impossible or wrong for the 2 sides to have a friendship, I'm just saying that in society's eye, because adjusting is always necessary when speaking to any individual and speaking to autistics requires a very conscious adjustment (unless they can't tell), they will always be Different in social interactions. It will always enter society's head that we're wired differently. The problem is not being treated as different, it's being treated equally despite difference.


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24 Feb 2023, 10:19 pm

Readydaer wrote:
the problem is, for NDs it's hard to get along with anyone who isn't also ND (at least for me). There's no connection or brotherhood because the brains are wired differently, and it's not as simple as 'getting along.' I'm not saying it's impossible or wrong for the 2 sides to have a friendship, I'm just saying that in society's eye, because adjusting is always necessary when speaking to any individual and speaking to autistics requires a very conscious adjustment (unless they can't tell), they will always be Different in social interactions. It will always enter society's head that we're wired differently. The problem is not being treated as different, it's being treated equally despite difference.


Yes I agree with you, the challenges you put forward are real (I only have to watch my daughter interact with NDs at school to know she is frustrated when she can't get her point across and the NDs shrug their shoulders and walk off).

What I am talking about is when you have common interests or share lots of time with a person who happens to be on the spectrum, there is a hope that the ND will accommodate the neurological differences, especially if they really don't manifest as anything significant. (or at least that's my aspiration)

The Diversity movement is guided by good intentions but become unstuck by making an issue about labels. My idea is aspirational rather than realistic because human nature is hard to change.



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24 Feb 2023, 10:37 pm

autisticelders wrote:
I use the terms interchangeably depending on the situation and the person I am talking to about it. I hate that people are becoming militant and trying to force others to use one or the other.

Agreed. We have plenty of other, more pressing issues to deal with than people with person-first language-ism vs. adjectivistic people.

Personally, I prefer whichever term flows better in a given sentence. Usually that's "autistic person," but occasionally that's "person with autism."


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24 Feb 2023, 11:29 pm

cyberdad wrote:
Readydaer wrote:
no one says 'person with blackness' as opposed to person with autism


I had an American friend living in Melbourne some 30 years ago who shared a house with another American so they were both from the states. They both got along like they were brothers, they were so close. One day I asked him, so what's it like sharing a house with a black guy? My friend gave me a response that gave me hope for the world. He said, "you know what" "I was so happy to meet another American living here it never entered my head about his skin colour".

He just "happened be black"

I would like one day to see NTs think the same way with people who "happen to have autism"


^^^ Agrees very strongly with this post !^^^ And i thought that is how the world is suppose to be . But i was
little and naive . But somehow that mindset has never left me . :mrgreen:


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25 Feb 2023, 12:26 am

Jakki wrote:
And i thought that is how the world is suppose to be . But i was
little and naive . But somehow that mindset has never left me . :mrgreen:


It's not impossible, I think that those of us who keep a fire/lantern like Diogenes of old that humans beings will come around and just accept each other.

Acceptance is the first step toward tolerance and tolerance leads to accommodation and friendship occurs naturally from there.



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25 Feb 2023, 12:37 am

Jakki wrote:
yes , i do like the brilliant aspects of Autism . And oddly as much as it has had its problems , It has provided me many unexpected benefits , and has helped with survival. But other traits no so much...


I like the term "Aspie".
I don't like "Ass-burgers".
Not fussed about being called autistic.
I find PC tedious.

It is estimated that around 80% of those on the spectrum have executive dysfunction.
I find this and a poor memory, which may be related to that, as a major disability.

Autism, while having SOME positive aspects, is a major pain in the Ass-burger for me, and I consider it a minus rather than a plus.
Things could be worse.
But, once I am outta here, I ain't coming back. 8)



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25 Feb 2023, 4:35 am

cyberdad wrote:
Jakki wrote:
And i thought that is how the world is suppose to be . But i was
little and naive . But somehow that mindset has never left me . :mrgreen:


It's not impossible, I think that those of us who keep a fire/lantern like Diogenes of old that humans beings will come around and just accept each other.

Acceptance is the first step toward tolerance and tolerance leads to accommodation and friendship occurs naturally from there.


I agree with the sentiment of everyone accepting differences.

The problem however with the whole “accept autism” idea is that it literally means that by many who promote the phrase.

Skilled semantic language creators

Accept autism as a natural condition not to be treated or cured.

They have little interest in helping to releave the neurological problems of those with more severe types of autism to them

Generally I find most NT are sympathetic to autistic people schizophrenics get a much harder time as the condition is associated with madness and unprovoked violence.

We never here of the accept schizophrenia phrase.


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25 Feb 2023, 5:45 am

carlos55 wrote:
The problem however with the whole “accept autism” idea is that it literally means that by many who promote the phrase.

Skilled semantic language creators

Accept autism as a natural condition not to be treated or cured.

They have little interest in helping to releave the neurological problems of those with more severe types of autism to them

Generally I find most NT are sympathetic to autistic people schizophrenics get a much harder time as the condition is associated with madness and unprovoked violence.

We never here of the accept schizophrenia phrase.


Agreed with everything here, It's easy to ask people to accept autistic people, but its much harder to act on good intentions. And yes schizophrenics illicit fear. Some years ago I was in a taxi in north Queensland and the elderly driver who was in his late 70s told me the reason he was still working was so he could keep his schizophrenic son at home, He was all that was between his son being permanently placed in a psychiatric ward (his wife died). His pension was not enough to support the both of them and expenses his son cost in terms of medication, clothes, food etc. He drove taxis at night time while son was asleep to pay the bills. He admitted the end was nigh, he was burning himself out.



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25 Feb 2023, 11:38 am

carlos55 wrote:
I agree with the sentiment of everyone accepting differences.

The problem however with the whole “accept autism” idea is that it literally means that by many who promote the phrase.

Skilled semantic language creators

Accept autism as a natural condition not to be treated or cured.

They have little interest in helping to releave the neurological problems of those with more severe types of autism to them

Generally I find most NT are sympathetic to autistic people schizophrenics get a much harder time as the condition is associated with madness and unprovoked violence.

We never here of the accept schizophrenia phrase.

Except for a small minority of supremacists ND advocates are not anti treatment. They dislike a lot of current treatments. Most pro cure autistics I read are critical of ABA also. ND advocates are for the most part anti cure.

I have no issue with a cure being available for those who want it. If cures become available I don’t expect them to become mandatory, especially after the backlash against COVID mandates. I do expect similar to COVID employers to require them, insurance being much more costly or not available to people who refuse cures, social pressure on individuals and anti cure parents. It still would be a choice but the cost of refusing would be so prohibitive that many who don’t want them will take them. I would have an issue with that. Unlike COVID autism is not a communicable disease.

People did not always have this level of sympathy towards autistic people. The ND movement is part of the reason that changed.


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