Can we truly say we don’t have a disease.

[Jared Jacobson]

I used to believe like some claim, that Asperger a and autism are not bad things that happen to you but are simply
Different ways of being. I wonder now how anyone could say such a thing which seems so naive and irresponsible. Can anyone in here truly say that their condition has added to their life rather than inhibiting our chances of happiness. If we can’t all be Rain Man, Lizbeth Salendar, or Forrest Gump, then how many of us, when we aren’t
Kidding around or striking a pose, would not take the cure to be rid of this condition? Can anyone here say that we aren’t better off NOT being awkward, not being strange, not being able to read the society around us, not being inhibited from relationships or achievements or just a life that
Makes sense? For pity sake, who?

 

[AprilR]

It's more of a disability rather than a disease.
As for your question, i do believe it has added to my life, but that may be bc i live in a completely selfish and irresponsible society.

For example, i like that i tend to think things through rather than being impulsive and acting without reason.

Me and my dad are also very non judgmental and fair minded people which i also believe as a plus.

Although i used to think that way too, like being disabled was a curse and i should be like everyone else around me. Ten years before i couldn't imagine thinking like i am right now.

The change came gradually but it is entirely possible for your views to change even without your life getting better.

Also i don't think that life is meant to be happy. Like you said, lots of people have difficulties they don't deserve to have. And a lot of people are living in wealth and happiness they don't deserve. It's best to think of what you deserve instead of what you have.

 

[Thinx]

So many people in the world have challenges and difficulties that it seems to be the norm, so I don't feel that the majority of others are better off, despite the downsides of high autistic traits or Aspergers. My guess would be that you may be up against depression, also. It may be worth checking on that with your doctor, as they have got a lot better more recently at refining medication for depression and making it more useful and user friendly.

 

[Amphilyke]

I have a disability. There are things I cannot do and experiences I cannot avoid having. And I think I need to give up on some things. Like people who say the "get along" with autistics without being autistic themselves. They won't actually get you regardless of their proximity to other autistics. People take a long time to get to know each other. There's no shortcuts. Sometimes your lonely heart starts looking for one, but it leads you down a dead end road. Slow and steady. Maybe a year or two from now, I will know what some of the apparently quite friendly people I've met are capable of. Or maybe I won't. Humanity is a strange mess. And we're just more splats on the wall ourselves hoping we don't get scrubbed while still wondering why it's so dirty. I'm a goo monster. I will get some on you whether I want to or not. If you choose to resent me for it--that's what I need to see. And once seen cannot be unseen. But of course it can be ignored. But you can't choose the fantasy because the fantasy isn't there. It's just more goo.

 

[Jared Jacobson]

I have a disability. There are things I cannot do and experiences I cannot avoid having. And I think I need to give up on some things. Like people who say the "get along" with autistics without being autistic themselves. They won't actually get you regardless of their proximity to other autistics. People take a long time to get to know each other. There's no shortcuts. Sometimes your lonely heart starts looking for one, but it leads you down a dead end road. Slow and steady. Maybe a year or two from now, I will know what some of the apparently quite friendly people I've met are capable of. Or maybe I won't. Humanity is a strange mess. And we're just more splats on the wall ourselves hoping we don't get scrubbed while still wondering why it's so dirty. I'm a goo monster. I will get some on you whether I want to or not. If you choose to resent me for it--that's what I need to see. And once seen cannot be unseen. But of course it can be ignored. But you can't choose the fantasy because the fantasy isn't there. It's just more goo.

I think you merely described the water im downing in

 

[Aspychata]

When l see other people around me, l see somewhat boring uninteresting people because l like my world. Is my world distorted and screwed up? In comparison to what? There are plenty of screwed up distorted people who aren't on the spectrum. They suffer from other things. I feel they aren't any better then l am. Your limitations of how you see yourself are simply that.

 

[Major Tom]

In my understanding a disease is something that can be potentially cured. So no I don't call it a disease. Disability for sure, not a disease.

 

[Suzanne]

Disease is something nasty that either you get sick from and survive or die from. We have a disability, because it hinders our day to day life.

At first, I struggled with it. I was put in a school for moderate learning difficulites as a child and every day, had to take a coach to school, which was a daily nightmare for me. I had to cope with those who went to a regular school, shouting abuse and calling all kinds of unkind names. So, it has been very difficult for me to accept that I am disabled, but the benefits are coming through now. I never get questioned, because I am confirmed to be on the spectrum and those around me, pretty much accept my limitations.

In this society, we are considered disabled; but in truth, I do not see myself as disabled.

 

[Judge]

Since I've never been a member of the neurological majority, I can't immediately say that I would prefer to be one of them as opposed to one of us on the spectrum.

But then to me it's an easy choice, having been on the spectrum all my life. In essence, it's all I know.

 

[Ronin82]

Its true that autism is a functional disability. However, if NT's weren't such ableist A**hats, we would have an easier time of finding ways to not just survive, but thrive. I have a predilection for animal behavior shaping. I can't find a way to get paid a living wage for it, mostly because I can't interact with PEOPLE the way I can with animals. The disability we have is definitely made infinitely more difficult due to the society we live in. Not fair, but I console myself with the fact that people for THOUSANDS of years have dealt with poverty and disability and I'm no different. It sucks, and I'm currently on a razor's edge of suicide myself because I've exhausted all options. I'm at a point where I NEED social support and intensive medical care that I just can't access.

Just wanted to say I feel you, Jared. This is something most of us face throughout our lifetimes. A lucky few don't, but they are truly the lucky ones. One thing that has helped me have happy times in my miserable existence is learning Eastern warrior philosophies and techniques for mental discipline. Mindfulness and living in the exact moment have helped me appreciate the small moments of good in life that really do happen. It doesn't make life suck less, but I am able to "embrace the suck", and enjoy the good moments as they occur, as well as be fully present and interactive with the difficult times. Its made my life more....tolerable.

I hope you find something that helps you find the small moments of good in your life.

 

[Nervous Rex]

But then to me it's an easy choice, having been on the spectrum all my life. In essence, it's all I know.

Agreed.

Autism touches every aspect of my personality and my identity. I don't know what I'd be like without it. Would my obsessions just be passing interests or would I have completely different ones? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have my intuitive problem-solving skills that have given me gainful employment working on projects that I care about - do I want to give those up for intuitive social skills and just work a McJob for the rest of my life?

If I was still in the socially-intense teen years that are hard for NT's and harder for ND's, I think I'd make the trade in a heartbeat. But I'm in my 50s, and I've learned to apply my problem-solving skills to social situations and come up with some rules that work for me. If I was offered a cure today, I would pass.

 

[OkRad]

ADS is a great gift . It's the Co-morbities that are the disabling factors. A lot of us have them. But a lot don't. I know the brain developing differently can lend itself to co-morbids, but sometimes that does not happen. I like my ASD but oh, my co-morbids.......terrible.

 

[Au Naturel]

If it could be "cured," I'd go for it in a heartbeat. It has offered me nothing but pain.

I don't think disease is the correct term. I consider ASD to be a genetic disability. There is something that most people can do that I cannot. If I were born with a physical limp, I'd be disabled. ASD is a mental limp. Some people have a slight limp while others are totally crippled by it. The inability to act socially like other people left me alone, depressed, misunderstood, and economically disenfranchised.

Perhaps if I had some superpower to compensate, I wouldn't consider it a disability but I have nothing to compensate.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I used to believe like some claim, that Asperger a and autism are not bad things that happen to you but are simply
Different ways of being. I wonder now how anyone could say such a thing which seems so naive and irresponsible. Can anyone in here truly say that their condition has added to their life rather than inhibiting our chances of happiness. If we can’t all be Rain Man, Lizbeth Salendar, or Forrest Gump, then how many of us, when we aren’t
Kidding around or striking a pose, would not take the cure to be rid of this condition? Can anyone here say that we aren’t better off NOT being awkward, not being strange, not being able to read the society around us, not being inhibited from relationships or achievements or just a life that
Makes sense? For pity sake, who?

Everyone's autism and life experience with it,...is unique. That said, one has to respect each other as we respond to questions and comments of a similar thread. Personally, I would say I have a much "milder" form of autism than some others here,...a stereotypical Asperger's condition. Reading some your posts,...wow,...I would consider myself pretty lucky. I still have the sensory issues, the anxiety and depression, the lack of social bonding, the communication difficulties, physical issues, etc. I have had my share of difficulty and heartache in life. However, I am employed, happily married, raised two great boys, and I don't worry about money. Part of my success at my career, my professional reputation, and my level of intelligence and reasoning,...is because of my autism.

For me, it is a long list of pros and cons. I am not sure if I would be truly better off had I not been born with autism.

 

[Booknerd515]

I don't consider autism to be a disease. I consider autism to be a disability because there are some things I can't do which are partly influenced by my autism that are classified as disabilities.

So meanwhile yes, autism has not let me do some things, participate in some things, and I have definitely been left out due to having autism, I wouldn't not want to have it. People may treat me less well due to having autism, but I wouldn't want to interact with them in the first place if they did that anyway. If I was left out of participating in something due to having autism, I wouldn't want to participate in it in the first place, no matter how much I may miss, because I am proud of being autistic. On the off chance of if a cure was ever developed, I absolutely wouldn't take it.

So I get you, Jared. There are upsides and downsides to having autism. But the good thing is? I always know which people to trust depending on how accepting they are of autism.

 

[Crossbreed]

@Jared Jacobson, severe co-morbid conditions are, in fact, defects. They are evidence of neonatal brain damage. They require special education and other life-long accommodations.

ASD1, with minimal co-morbid conditions, is not a defect. It is a hereditary form of neuro-diversity similar to related intellectual giftedness. (ASD2 & 3 are injured forms of ASD1, and are not hereditary.) ASD1 does not require special education. We benefit from accommodations, but can get by without them.

Unfortunately, it makes our children more vulnerable to the above-named brain injury than NT children, but the external source of that subsequent injury wasn't a factor until the late 1970s. Before that, (what we would now call) ASD2 & 3 was extremely rare.

2014-CA DDS Autism Cases By Birth Year

These are ASD2s & 3s only; not including ASD1s. This caseload did not previously exist under a different diagnosis. Also known as Millennial Autism. Image taken from California's Autism Crisis

 

[Au Naturel]

I would argue that ASD 1 is indeed a type of disability. And even if it cannot be "cured" it calls for an educational effort to mitigate as much can be. If I cannot see social context or naturally behave in a way conducive to social connections, I am at a severe disadvantage in life. I can't engage in standard social activities without significant issues. People with a permanent limp can also "get by" without special consideration but that doesn't mean they aren't disabled.

Some people are fortunate to have marketable compensatory skills but not everybody is so lucky.