Non-visible disabilities: Living with a hidden disability

WhatThe

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!

anisty

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.

WhatThe

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.

egister

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/990985#Comment_990985

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.

egister

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/990933#Comment_990933

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?

WhatThe

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.