I don't call my Autism Spectrum Condition a 'disorder' — Scope | Disability forum
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I don't call my Autism Spectrum Condition a 'disorder'

lovesColdplay
lovesColdplay Community member Posts: 15 Connected
edited March 2017 in Autism and neurodiversity
Hi,
I have Autism Spectrum Condition.
It means I am different. A neurological difference. Like that I am left-handed.
I don't call it a 'disorder' because that makes it sound as if I have something wrong with me. There are positives to my ASC.
It doesn't need prevention, treatment or cure like an illness, and it is not something that will, or needs to, get better.
Very best wishes :-)
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  • [Deleted User]
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  • bendigedig
    bendigedig Community member Posts: 254 Pioneering
    edited March 2017
    Im with you on that one Lovescoldplay!

    Very well said.

    I have an Aspergers diagnosis.  So does my son.

    There is nothing "wrong with us".

    We excell in areas that other people do not,  sometimes very noticeably.

    We stand out a bit somtimes..... I like to think its because we are "outstanding".

    Our differences are not a problem to us.   For some reason though, they seem to be a problem to a small section of people.

    Perhaps that small section of people should be studied and singled out for this characteristic that they display to the rest of the population (the rest that welcomes difference and diversity)?

    With help and support maybe we can help these poor people who find it so difficult to accept and embrace differences in others?

    I think together if we try, we might be able to help these poor souls.


  • joannarashelle
    joannarashelle Community member Posts: 135 Pioneering
    I'm also on the spectrum and left handed haha! 

    Yes it's a 'condition' 


    And they say 90% of technology has been created by people with autism (I read that on a separate forum on here!)

    Best wishes to you too!
  • lovesColdplay
    lovesColdplay Community member Posts: 15 Connected
    bendigedig I love your reflection on 'outstanding' :-)
  • [Deleted User]
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  • lovesColdplay
    lovesColdplay Community member Posts: 15 Connected
    Cheers, mumof3boys, I will read it :-)
  • [Deleted User]
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  • lovesColdplay
    lovesColdplay Community member Posts: 15 Connected
    However, as with any heterogeneous group of unique individuals, people with ASC will have the whole range of different abilities. I have a mixture of things I'm good at and things I struggle with. I would like to sing with Coldplay, of course!!
  • joannarashelle
    joannarashelle Community member Posts: 135 Pioneering
    Yes I too have things I'm fab at but struggle with quite basic things sometimes oh dear! 

    I personally can spot someone who may be on the spectrum but I'm particularly in tune with feelings and energies, and of course notice behaviour that I myself have, in others, though yes we differ so much.

    And I think @bendigedig got it so right with the explanation of outstanding!

    Should be our mantra.

    We are our true selves and tend not to lie or put a front on, apart from feeling anxious around aggressive and overwhelming situations. 

    Then I turn into a tortoise! 
  • bendigedig
    bendigedig Community member Posts: 254 Pioneering
    edited March 2017
    Ha ha!

    My wife keeps " identifying people who are " on the Spectrum"

    i miss the days when if sombody said "im on the Spectrum", it meant that they were playing **** games like Blind Alley or Horace goes Skiing.

    sadly those days are gone.  "on the Spectrum". Is here to stay with us like the word "Ecology" was wrung out and over used inapropriately in the 80s/90s!  I remember seeing a cloth shopping bag with just the word ecology written on it once..  Im still puzzling over that one?

    if we consider the light spectrum we have to remember that it is simply part of a wider spectrum of radiation including the Electromagnetic Spectrum

    I think the term Spectrum is grossly and inaproprately misused.

    we are talking about manifested human  behaviours when we use "the spectrum" to classify people.  Since we are all people and since we all naturally exhibit behaviours then it stands to reason that we ARE ALL ON A SPECTRUM!

    like the light spectrum, autism is simply a part of a broader spectrum of human behaviours.

    behaviour is to a greater extent dynamic....  Some of us of course are much more limited in the diversity of behaviours we display but for the most part, most of us display a variety of different behaviours.

    some people who regard themselves as "neurotypical" (another unhelpful classification I think), often display behaviours that are or could be interpreted as "autistic" behaviours.  Conversely Autistic people to varying degrees display behaviours that are "neurotypical".

    my point is that the human preocupation with classification, separating people according to thier differences is for the most part unhelpful and often very detrimental to those who are being classified.  An exercise in statistically analysing and managing population data to organise our aproach to how we treat people is never going to work out as a good idea.  What does it matter which side of the bell shaped curve you are on?

    i like to think that one day humanity will evolve beyond this intellctually knee jerk reaction to dealing with the diversity of human behaviours.  In this utopia of acceptance I hope to see people sharing thoughts and conversation without regard for their differences. It is afterall our humanity that binds us and it is that which we should celebrate.

    when we finally disallow unhelpfuly paranoid psychopathic people with very damaging outlooks on humanity from controlling our society perhaps we might arrive at a place where acceptance is encouraged?  

    I dont like being identified as different.   I dont like it because I know that ALL of us have a lot more in common than things we dont have in common.   This, we can build on.

    i dont want people to think Im being negative about paranoid or psychopathic behaviours here.   Im not.  Im just saying I think we would be better off if we didnt encourage those people who are prone to those behaviours from being our societal leaders etc.  Just look at Donald Trump?   A perfect example.   


  • bendigedig
    bendigedig Community member Posts: 254 Pioneering
    Joannarashelle.

    I think Tortoises are superb animals.
  • joannarashelle
    joannarashelle Community member Posts: 135 Pioneering
    Me too @bendigedig!

    Lets start a tortoise appreciation society hehe!

     
  • lovesColdplay
    lovesColdplay Community member Posts: 15 Connected
    I only got my diagnosis in recent years. I was high achiever academically at school. Yet I have always had a difficult time and struggled in my adult life. I didn't understand why. I blamed myself. Knowing I am 'different' and have a disability has helped me to be able to forgive myself and understand, get support, and know that I have a right to reasonable adjustments for my employment, to help me overcome barriers to me being equal team member. I like difference. There is no such thing as 'normal', :-)
  • [Deleted User]
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  • bendigedig
    bendigedig Community member Posts: 254 Pioneering
    @lovesColdplay, @DannyMoore , @joannarashelle

    I see where you are all coming from.

    I just think that we should as much as possible treat each other and treat the person (per say) as an individual.  After all if we all have ASC/ASD and we all have different views on how we feel about it then its probably not a good idea to lump people all under one label?

    in fact (im being deliberately provocative, I know.). Why label at all?  i suppose it just really depends on how out of the ordinary (I like to say "extra ordinary") you are :). Of course I understand that classifying is important somtimes!

    classification has its place.  for instance, people in the US have a special kind of Turtle/Tortoise dyslexia.   Im not even sure if they are familiar with the word Terrapin?  Its not helpful to call a Tortoise a Turtle or vice versa.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 740 Listener
    edited May 2017
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  • bendigedig
    bendigedig Community member Posts: 254 Pioneering
    edited March 2017
    @DannyMoore

    please dont missunderstand or misinterpret me
  • bendigedig
    bendigedig Community member Posts: 254 Pioneering
    My last post was much longer!  It explained what I meant. Its not been posted in its entirity.  Ive tried to post it again twice !
  • bendigedig
    bendigedig Community member Posts: 254 Pioneering
    I will try one more time!

    when i refer to classifying and labeling I refer to how society at large classifies and lables everybody.

    i totally get and respect why people might classify and label themselves :). Thats up to them.

    i wish Id labled my tortoise, perhaps I wouldnt have lost him if I did:(

    i totally get what you mean about the forum though its a comforting and safe place to be.  I like it and have been made to feel very welcome here.
  • bendigedig
    bendigedig Community member Posts: 254 Pioneering
    @DannyMoore
    about me labling people.

    on the contrary.  I really dont like labeling or classifying people I try to a oid it as much as i possibly can

Brightness