DVCal
Velociraptor
Joined: Apr 05, 2012
Posts: 450
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 Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:13 pm Post subject: Is Autism/Asperger a defect? |
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| I sure think so, it disorder with all kinds of problems, social problems, sensory issues, and other things. I know many aspies seem to think it is just a difference, but to me that is denial of the truth. |
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Callista
Phoenix
Joined: Feb 04, 2006
Age: 30
Posts: 9821
Location: Central USA
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| Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:40 pm Post subject: |
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It's a disability, yes. But I would like to challenge what we mean by "disability". When I say that word, I mean that there are skills we don't have that are expected of the average person in our society. That's a plain, simple fact--and it does not need to carry any other ideas along with it.
People with disabilities can be talented. They can live happy lives. They can help others. They can be successful at work and at school. They are not tragedies and they are not "heroic" for just living their lives. They have problems that range from annoying to overwhelming--but so do non-disabled people, and the problems that disabled people have don't have to be put in some special, scary category all by themselves. Disabled people have friends and romantic relationships. They have and raise children. They find ways to do things that non-disabled people do, sometimes by hiring help, sometimes by doing things in a different way.
Autism is a disability. But a disability is just another form of difference. It's not something that should be associated with fear or pity. Disability is a normal part of human life. If you don't count women, disabled people are the single largest minority in the US, and probably in most other places as well. We're as human as anyone else--in fact, being disabled is just one possible part of the experience of being human, just like being female or being from China or being born in 1956.
Rather than lying and saying I am not disabled, I would prefer to try to clarify exactly what disability is and isn't.
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r84shi37
Snowy Owl
Joined: Sep 29, 2012
Age: 16
Posts: 127
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| Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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Pluses and minuses. I can remember facts very well, thus allowing me to get straight a's without studying.  I can remember sounds and other things better than most people, this is more helpful than people with average memory would think. Socially, I've been referred to as "creepy", "strange", "obsessive", "weird", and "awkward". So it is a disability on some fronts, and something desirable from another perspective. |
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knifegill
Raven
Joined: May 09, 2012
Age: 31
Posts: 101
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| Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Not remotely. It's an enhancement. We notice every sound around us. We can talk with animals and imitate them well. We can hear bats for goodness's sake. In previous times, we were the expert hunters and scouts. The only negative aspects we experience in modern society are constructed of modern society itself. I, for one, don't need people to like me per se. I've figured out most of their games so I can hold a job, but it's all artifice. When the powers fall, they will look to US for our explicit detailed fact storage and tenacious honesty. Better thank your lucky stars you're one of us! |
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DVCal
Velociraptor
Joined: Apr 05, 2012
Posts: 450
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 12:53 am Post subject: |
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| knifegill wrote: | | Not remotely. It's an enhancement. We notice every sound around us. We can talk with animals and imitate them well. We can hear bats for goodness's sake. In previous times, we were the expert hunters and scouts. The only negative aspects we experience in modern society are constructed of modern society itself. I, for one, don't need people to like me per se. I've figured out most of their games so I can hold a job, but it's all artifice. When the powers fall, they will look to US for our explicit detailed fact storage and tenacious honesty. Better thank your lucky stars you're one of us! |
Speak for your self my sensory issues make it so I don't notice sounds, or sights unless I focus on them. |
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emimeni
Musical Listener
Joined: Sep 29, 2012
Age: 23
Posts: 1064
Location: In my bed, on my laptop
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:01 am Post subject: |
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| knifegill wrote: | | Not remotely. It's an enhancement. We notice every sound around us. We can talk with animals and imitate them well. We can hear bats for goodness's sake. In previous times, we were the expert hunters and scouts. The only negative aspects we experience in modern society are constructed of modern society itself. I, for one, don't need people to like me per se. I've figured out most of their games so I can hold a job, but it's all artifice. When the powers fall, they will look to US for our explicit detailed fact storage and tenacious honesty. Better thank your lucky stars you're one of us! |
I disagree. The fact is, we're disabled. Okay, so a few of us aren't disabled, and only have autistic abilities--those of us who aren't make up a good portion of the broad autistic phenotype. A few of us have only disabilities from our autism, and the severity of disability can vary widely. However, I think most of us have both disabilities and abilities because of our autism, whether or not we or the people in our lives choose to acknowledge it.
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Living with one neurodevelopmental disability which has earned me a few diagnosis'.
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Anomiel
Phoenix
Joined: Dec 18, 2012
Posts: 809
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:05 am Post subject: |
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| knifegill wrote: | | Not remotely. It's an enhancement. We notice every sound around us. We can talk with animals and imitate them well. We can hear bats for goodness's sake. In previous times, we were the expert hunters and scouts. The only negative aspects we experience in modern society are constructed of modern society itself. I, for one, don't need people to like me per se. I've figured out most of their games so I can hold a job, but it's all artifice. When the powers fall, they will look to US for our explicit detailed fact storage and tenacious honesty. Better thank your lucky stars you're one of us! |
I agree.
DVCal, If you see it as a disability for you, that does not make it a disability for others. |
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emimeni
Musical Listener
Joined: Sep 29, 2012
Age: 23
Posts: 1064
Location: In my bed, on my laptop
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:07 am Post subject: |
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| Anomiel wrote: | | knifegill wrote: | | Not remotely. It's an enhancement. We notice every sound around us. We can talk with animals and imitate them well. We can hear bats for goodness's sake. In previous times, we were the expert hunters and scouts. The only negative aspects we experience in modern society are constructed of modern society itself. I, for one, don't need people to like me per se. I've figured out most of their games so I can hold a job, but it's all artifice. When the powers fall, they will look to US for our explicit detailed fact storage and tenacious honesty. Better thank your lucky stars you're one of us! |
I agree.
DVCal, If you see it as a disability for you, that does not make it a disability for others. |
Excuse me, but I think the two of you are the only people currently participating who see autism as purely enhancement.
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Living with one neurodevelopmental disability which has earned me a few diagnosis'.
PM me if you want to chat on Skype. |
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knifegill
Raven
Joined: May 09, 2012
Age: 31
Posts: 101
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:21 am Post subject: |
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| Perhaps the minor disadvantages do not leave us crying - because we either don't care AT ALL about what people think about us, or maybe because we truly aren't as negatively affected as others. Yeah, I was teased as a kid. I was a total nerd and straight arrow, a tattle-tale and a loner. That was just how my callouses were built up. As an adult, I'm happy alone, nerdy, honest, etc. |
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Anomiel
Phoenix
Joined: Dec 18, 2012
Posts: 809
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:44 am Post subject: |
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| I doubt it is only 2 overall. It would probably be more if we weren't taught from a young age to be ashamed and try to erase our differences. My point still stands, just because an individual sees it as a disability (whatever the reasons are that is isn't for someone else) does not allow that person to claim it is so for everyone. |
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izzeme
Phoenix
Joined: Apr 05, 2011
Age: 26
Posts: 1086
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:51 am Post subject: |
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it's a double-sided medal; several things about aspergers i also see as an enhancement, but other aspects are clearly a disability.
actually, the other day i had a guest speaker in class that was talking about 'new' training methods and medication to make workers and soldiers function more 'efficiently'.
while describing the effects to the class, i could not help but to stop remarking "aspie, aspie, aspie". effectively, the speaker wanted to drug soldiers into becoming aspies... |
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Tiranasta
Toucan
Joined: Jul 01, 2008
Posts: 263
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:24 am Post subject: |
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| What people sometimes forget when approaching this question is that autism/aspergers can vary hugely in presentation and severity. Really, the only good answer is 'in some cases'. |
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DVCal
Velociraptor
Joined: Apr 05, 2012
Posts: 450
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 10:31 am Post subject: |
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| Tiranasta wrote: | | What people sometimes forget when approaching this question is that autism/aspergers can vary hugely in presentation and severity. Really, the only good answer is 'in some cases'. |
I disagree anyone who meets the requirement for the DSM has a disorder and something wrong with them. They have a defect. |
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CockneyRebel
Mick Avory, Sensitive brown-eyed Sweet Pea
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Age: 38
Posts: 87192
Location: In a quiet and peaceful garden, where gentle Mick Avory-like Sweet Peas grow.
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 10:40 am Post subject: |
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I see it as a disability and a gift. Having a disability is nothing to be ashamed of, because disability is natural. I see it as a gift, because I have a bunch of little quirks that I find to be adorable. I also have a cute cat face and I know not to hurt people because I've been hurt by many people, even my parents and I know how it feels to be hurt by people both physically and emotionally.
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The darling, unworldly Mick Avory with hands like shovels, who wouldn't dare choose to hurt a soul: I'm the cuddly, adorable Kink. Sweet Peas: http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j37/Cocknee/Kinks/Sweet%20Pea%20Smileys/ Other: http://www.mybrowsercash.com/ |
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Joe90
Phoenix
Joined: Feb 24, 2010
Posts: 8251
Location: Great Britain
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 10:43 am Post subject: |
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I feel it's just a condition to me. It doesn't make me unable to do certain things, but it doesn't make me different either. It just makes me feel more anxious than the average person, and makes me very shy, timid and nervous with people. I think I have become very obsessive aswell.
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Real gender: Female
From: East UK
Age: 23 |
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