Jump to content
BruceCM

Autism - a Disorder?

Recommended Posts

Disorder or disability I don't mind either way. Condition I object to because blue eyes and brown hair can be a condition. Just like calling something a learning difficulty, people forget it is a disability which then seems contradictory when you try and get help for something that's a difficulty. I had a difficulty in learning to drive but that doesn't mean ive got a learning difficulty in learning to drive.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"Disorder" sounds a bit as if you (the aspie) disturb the order. Disability seems to be a better term, in my view.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

interesting point there shnoing

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The "D" usually stands for "Difference" but this word does not have the same connotation in "ASD".

 

Perhaps we should make up a new meaning to "ASD". Autistic Spectrum D............ answers on a postcard please

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm not sure if it is a disorder. What's being put out of order? Daily life? ......Maybe. But was it ever in order in the first place?

 

Is it a disability then? Well it can be. But then again, so can lots of other things in life. Sometimes people with ASD are better at doing certain things than people who don't have it.

 

I admit I do like the word "difference", because it's an accurate description. It is being "different" from the "norm" .

 

But then, why do we need the "D" in ASD at all?

What's wrong with just AS?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

AS is Asperger Syndrome. ASD is Autism Spectrum D... whatever. So it covers also HFA and LFA persons.

 

"different" I don't like. Because I don't like to be compared to some "norm". I my view, "dis-abled" is the more accurate term (for me), as I often am un-able to do some things (due to overload) which I can do at other times.

Some things I cannot imagine, but I can theorize about imagining them, so I think this brain circuit is just "dis-abled" in my brain.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Point taken. AS is already taken for Aspergers. But "on the autistic spectrum" could still be used (although it is a bit of a mouthful). So maybe not.

 

Disability, Difference, Disorder. All of these terms don't exist in a vacuum. They only exist if compared to something else, even if that "something else" is yourself at an earlier time. So you're always having to compare yourself to someone else, some group, or yourself at some earlier stage. Without that comparison, whatever you have is just "normal" and you deal with it. It's the same with "poverty" (or wealth): you don't know you're poor unless you compare yourself with someone else. If, in 200 years time, the majority of people in Europe "have" Aspergers Syndrome (and there have been predictions of this) then the term AS would disappear because that would then be the norm, normal, ordinary way to be.

 

So I still (personally, individually) like the term "difference": different from something/someone else, but not necessarily in a bad way. Just different.

Edited by Antolak

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Point taken. AS is already taken for Aspergers. But "on the autistic spectrum" could still be used (although it is a bit of a mouthful). So maybe not.

 

Disability, Difference, Disorder. All of these terms don't exist in a vacuum. They only exist if compared to something else, even if that "something else" is yourself at an earlier time. So you're always having to compare yourself to someone else, some group, or yourself at some earlier stage. Without that comparison, whatever you have is just "normal" and you deal with it. It's the same with "poverty" (or wealth): you don't know you're poor unless you compare yourself with someone else. If, in 200 years time, the majority of people in Europe "have" Aspergers Syndrome (and there have been predictions of this) then the term AS would disappear because that would then be the norm, normal, ordinary way to be.

 

So I still (personally, individually) like the term "difference": different from something/someone else, but not necessarily in a bad way. Just different.

I think this is a fantastic way of putting it. I agree. It is a definite difference to what is considered normal within our present culture. But our culture is changing all the time because people are still evolving and also changing all the time as are belief systems and our ways of viewing the world/universe we live in. Personally, I feel that we are the beginning of something new. We are at present the minority therefore the world reflects and `fits` the old way of being, and so we don't seem to fit in. That could all change. But as Antolak put it so perfectly, I won't say any more. :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...