Pathologizing

[Ylva]

I've been reading about how we are pathologized so that our parents will pay lots of money for so-called therapists to "cure" us. Two articles I found worth sharing.

My Stinky Backpack: Hidden in Plain Sight: Orthorexia in the Autism Parenting Community

Inclusion and Acceptance are the Most Effective Autism “Therapies”

 

[WereBear]

Inclusion and Acceptance are the Most Effective Autism “Therapies”

This already mirrors my own thoughts, and I've only known I am Aspie for about a year!

After reading the article, I am even more appalled. Had I been treated with such "therapy" when I was pre-school age, it would have been an absolute disaster.

For me.

 

[WereBear]

Further delving has made me run across someone with autism who thinks the "label of Asperger's is a sign of ableism."

Since I'm new, if anyone could translate that for me, I would appreciate it

I am familiar with the concept of ablism, of course, and once my consciousness was raised I see it all around me. Still learning how different people interpret it in the neurodiversity community, I guess. For me, "Asperger's" was something people close to me instantly understood in a way that matched my own understanding of what is going on with me, while if I tried them with "High Functioning Autism" I would get disbelief and gentle advice to maybe get a second opinion...

And yes, that might be a problem with ignorance and definitions but I'm not going to remake the world by refusing to understand how it works...

 

[Ylva]

Further delving has made me run across someone with autism who thinks the "label of Asperger's is a sign of ableism."

Aspergers is a subtype of autism, but I guess your someone with autism might have been referring to the elitist bull that some people practice where they think having aspergers is somehow superior to having other types of autism. So the label is not inherently ableist any more than any diagnosis is, but all the hype surrounding it is.

But functioning labels are inherently ableist, so it's better to avoid them even if you don't mean anything by them but a "that's just what it's called".

 

[WereBear]

But functioning labels are inherently ableist, so it's better to avoid them even if you don't mean anything by them but a "that's just what it's called".

Forgive me: I am now more confused than ever Example?

 

[Ylva]

Basically: if you are labelled "high-functioning" your struggles get treated like they aren't really struggles, whereas if you are labelled "low-functioning" your abilities may get ignored altogether. They probably exist for advertising purposes, so to speak, and I have a sneaking suspicion those labels were made just to turn us against each other – I think it mostly has to do with the associations/connotations of the words "high" and "low". The book "A Field Guide to Earthlings" goes into how allistics communicate inside an idea network and that's why they don't take things literally.

But since autistics do tend to take things literally it seems reasonable (to us) to think that functioning labels are no worse than other labels, that they are just more words for things. If you really think about it, though, it is clear that those labels were made by people who weren't autistic, so they would have an agenda of some sort wouldn't they.

 

[SusanLR]

The term Asperger has been eliminated from the DSM-5 and we're all on the spectrum now by that diagnostic rule.
My first neuro-psych test rated me as (F-21) schizo personality disorder. Further testing disproved that label.
Here is a page that shows different ways of diagnosing and terms. Diagnostic Criteria

 

[WereBear]

Basically: if you are labelled "high-functioning" your struggles get treated like they aren't really struggles, whereas if you are labelled "low-functioning" your abilities may get ignored altogether.

Thank you so much for your explanation, this particular part really resonated with me.

 

[Ylva]

The term Asperger has been eliminated from the DSM-5

In the States, at least. Maybe Canada.

I don't know, maybe it's better to have separate names for the subtypes than to use functioning labels. On the one hand it creates certain expectations when all variations of a thing get lumped together, and you get comments like "but my friend's cousin's nephew's classmate has autism, and he is nothing like you". On the other hand, the different types are considered "variations on a theme" for a reason.

 

[WereBear]

I think there should be some extensive re-calibration of what's "normal," that is for certain.