Isn’t Autism . . . a disease/mental disorder etc. that we suffer from/are afflicted with?
I don’t really want to discuss this and am not sure how to address the issue without offending someone. I do not feel I am ‘dis’ abled, I have been given the wrong set of abilities for this society, thus I call myself ‘mis’ abled. It feels better to me. Someone else may feel disabled. I don’t think any of us on the spectrum would agree with being afflicted with a ‘disease’ though both sides certainly have their ease dissed. Even though Professionals continue to insist Autism is a Mental (thought) disorder as proclaimed in their bible, Neurological difference is the more appropriate term.
I can’t generalize across all forms of autism since we continue to learn more and differentiate more subgroups or causes. All of us ‘suffer’ from the mismatch with society, yet, I do not blame my neurological difference. It is the intolerance, rigidity and lack of empathy in the general mainstream of Society. Even the sensory issues would be minimal in a less smelly, noisy, crowded, polluted world. Others are trapped in a separate place and no one knows how much these persons are suffering or how intelligent they are.
Many of us want to work, but need tolerance and some assistance from co-workers. We could be a valuable addition to the work force if even plant managers with aspie sons were not terrified of an autistic on their work-site. I don’t want to get too personal, but it is typical to have postgraduate training and be considered ‘unfit’ for minimum wage repetitive, fine detail work everyone hates and we are willing to do. We would not be accused of being such a drain on society if we were permitted to have employment suited to our special skills. It would improve our esteem to contribute to society and one less way we are bullied and put down all our lives. The genetic type HFA/AS were here before, but we fit in on farms and frontiers better than cities. Or maybe burned as witches – who knows.
