Non-visible disabilities: Living with a hidden disability
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egister, there can be medical disease in autistic individuals and mine cost the NHS tons! I survived emergency surgery twice as a child and live with the complications of that.
All the DWP ever did was make me more unwell and waste public funds! I never understood why the DWP persecuted and punished me for being ill but they did so knowingly and repeatedly. We don't waste public funds by being sick and disabled - they do that by pretending we're not!
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Ah - i missed the point of your thread @WhatThe - i thought you wanted us to come up with our own definitions.
Totally agree that, whilst autism in itself is not a disease, it does lead to illnesses, a shorter lifespan and a requirement for support that falls under the healthcare umbrella.
My son has had extensive NHS help right through childhood - mainly occupational therapy, speech & language therapy and paediatrician. He had input from 2yrs constantly til 16yrs.
At the moment he keeps very well physically and is not currently placing demand on NHS services, though he has needed physio as an adult for problems caused by lax joints (he just went private for that as he was in quite a bit of knee pain)
He is, and always has been, underweight with a poor diet and this is as a direct result of sensory difficulties related to autism. I have no doubt his physical health will fail years before a non autistic individual.
As i mentioned before, the mental health of 3 of the other 4 has been affected.
It isn't just physical disease processes that lead to disability.
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Yes, it's a life-long and life-limiting condition.
I used to think this only referred to lifespan but it also means the limitations we experience because of our impairments.
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That's what I'm trying to explain to you - by not recognizing autism as a disease, the DWP is given a cheat code to discriminate against people with autism, because it benefits the government.
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So you think that a person with autism should be identified by random strangers as a person with autism? What benefit do you have from them being able to determine this?
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So you think that a person with autism should be identified by random strangers as a person with autism? What benefit do you have from them being able to determine this?
I often ask people I've never met if they are autistic and fist bump if they are! Autism probably isn't something most people easily recognise hence the hidden disability and the very reason for this thread. My assertion here though is that however well hidden, such disabilities are rarely invisible.
I've said in another thread that my autism is as much about other people as it is myself. If I'm going about my business and don't encounter annoying people it's not a problem. I'll change seats or even buses to get away from shouty people if I need to.
On another thread, a member described having a shopping trolley grabbed by someone else despite placing his walking stick in the trolley with the intention of using it. Identifying disability is not the whole story.
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Do you actually ask strangers if they have the same disease (condition) as you??? Wow...
I also don't understand why you think that other people can recognize autism in strangers just because you have this ability?
Not everyone differentiates between right and left.
I will also note that putting a dirty walking stick in the shopping trolley is not entirely appropriate. And we can assume that the one who tried to take the cart with someone else’s cane also has an invisible disability, right?)0 -
Do you actually ask strangers if they have the same disease (condition) as you??? Wow...
I also don't understand why you think that other people can recognize autism in strangers just because you have this ability?
Well of course this is the very nature of autism! (Apologies to @WhatThe for answering this but I am probably best-placed to do so as I am not autistic myself, but spend a lot of time with people who are autistic)
So - with autism, one of the things affected is "theory of mind" That is the ability to see things from others' perspectives.
Another aspect of great difficulty is the pragmatic aspect of communication - which is why behaviours which trigger you to say "WOW - do you actually ???!!!" occur. Social boundaries are often crossed with the autistic person having no idea what they have done or said to cause offense.
Finally - it doesn't surprise me at all that @WhatThe recognises other autistic people. My son can do this and so can I. Most of us have the ability to recognise "people like us"
Cute story - when my son (who actually does NOT have severe autism; he is verbal and intelligible) first went to the support group as a young teen, most of the others there were more severe than him.
One lad in particular made many non-speech sounds but my son gelled with him right away. They seemed to share the same juvenile sense of humour. It didn't matter that they didn't talk to each other.
My son came home from the first visit to that group and my hubby shook his head and said everyone there was much more severe than our boy.
Our son was right behind him and said "Mum, they're all like me!"
That was his peer group right there. So glad he found it!
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Thanks for the clarification!
But ultimately, it is still not clear how to ensure coexistence without conflicts between ordinary people who do not see “invisible” disabilities and people with “invisible disabilities.”
expecting healthy people to recognize them and not realizing that they look just like everyone else?
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Ah - that's one for our op to answer. I can tell you my 4 cognitively able adults definitely do NOT want to be recognised as autistic.
My youngest daughter (17) got her official diagnosis in October last year - instigated by us as she struggled with the social aspects of high school and over dosed. I suspected autism was the root cause.
But she will not share her diagnosis with anyone - in fact she still thinks they got it wrong and she's not autistic at all. And you'd never know unless she disclosed it. I guessed because she doesn't like teen parties or hanging about in larger groups. And due to our family history. Otherwise i would not have guessed at all.
On another note, i have just seen my disabled lad on his way to the post office with the day's takings for the charity shop he works at!!
I had to nip into the shop and let them know that is just way too much responsibility for him - if anyone challenged him, he would be totally flustered!
He has worked at the same charity shop for 8 years now so he is good but i don't think new staff recognise his disabilities. So this is a case where it is important they do know. My fault entirely; i should be checking in far more often than i do.
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anisty, thanks for the correction and the explaining 😑 (I write slowly)
egister none of us is invisible even to a blind person.
My thread is not about terminology but language. This from the NAS
ACCEPT DIFFERENCE NOT INDIFFERENCE
🙏
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@WhatThe
I'm confused...
So - with autism, one of the things affected is "theory of mind" That is the ability to see things from others' perspectives. - This is true? Does it follow from this that you do not understand what I have written as much as I do?How do you decrypt the NAS? Network Attached Storage, Non-access stratum, Network Audio System???
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I can say for myself that for many years I denied my disability and as a result my health only worsened, despite the fact that I diligently received treatment. Don't repeat my mistakes.
The “feat” of denying your own disability will only be appreciated by the DWP, because you won’t have to spend money.0 -
Does it follow from this that you do not understand what I have written as much as I do?
Correct. We are dealing with translation into English. Autistic into allistic is hard work. I don't usually answer questions on the forum and this is why!
How do you decrypt the NAS? Network Attached Storage, Non-access stratum, Network Audio System??? National Autistic Society
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What does the National Autistic Society do to educate ordinary people about the characteristics of autism?
Nothing.
And I did not find an answer to my question on their website about recognizing autistic people in a crowd of people outside of their unusual behavior.0 -
Having had a later in life diagnosis of Autism in 2021, hidden disabilities are very real, yet the attitudes of society in general, employers and even in the medical (physical health) profession is that if health conditions are not visible (including mental health) then they are deemed to not exist, are deemed as not real, not relevant and the person is deemed to be “talking nonsense” - there is a point-blank refusal to be educated nor to understand anything about hidden disabilities and the issues around same and there clearly is a lot of prejudice and discrimination out there regarding these issues - if we try to ask for reasonable adjustments we are told to “be quiet” and similar and are not regarded as having a genuine disability - even having a post-diagnostic assessment for adult autism (which is so important) is both an impossibility and is denied for no valid reason in all cases, even though this is essential and vital for obtaining appropriate adult autism support - best practice does not even exist in the private sector for autism diagnosis (which also requires a GP referral) and we are left to muddle through life and trying to find appropriate support via non-profit organisations with so many of the support services geared almost exclusively to children’s autism - as more people are diagnosed later in life, this is going to create serious problems in later years with an elderly autistic population who are going to need enhanced support - being a traditional Irish Catholic myself, I no longer believe that we live in a caring, civilised society underpinned by basic moral and ethical values
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In Russia, they are going to soften the rules of conscription and call up people with mental problems, which did not happen even during WWII. Keep in mind that governments of different countries are aping each other's "life hacks". This means that in the UK, you shouldn't expect a good attitude towards people with "minor" mental problems. The press has been shouting about plans to cut payments to the disabled for years, you know that.
😢
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No one can see my disabilities I put makeup on do my hair present myself I believe socially acceptable I'm ok with brief conversations but once I have to be around people say in work the mask slips the thoughts the paranoia the stress the burden of the structure of society is to much it's lead me down some very very dark places and I'm very ashamed of some of the things I've done isolation is the only way for me in my safe place my daughter is my only great amazing love in this life and I'm truly blessed but there is times I cannot even be around her and I feel terrible for saying that I just cannot cope with people in my space or relationships I feel things so deep to my soul is destroying me I absorb energy I'm home in on people's body language tone of voice I can never relax just leave me alone I get no comfort from people I've always felt I have to do this life on my own like many of us if they cut benefits I will slowly disappear I won't be cured and able to work I despair but this is part of their agenda who are we karma is a great gift and I hand it over to them they are acting like governments who totally lock the people down
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