Autistic Problems

mindamplified asked: I really think that whole April thing should only be directed to Autism Speaks rather than the idea of there being an awareness month. Because do you really think autism should be kept a secret? We still deserve a month of awareness, but not necessarily making it all about Autism Speaks.

I prefer acceptance to “awareness.” We get enough “awareness.”

- metapianycist

Anonymous asked: Hi um, I'm not autistic, so I'm curious as to why April is hard for autistic people? I don't understand :( thank you

April is when Autism Speaks runs a lot of awareness campaigns, including “Light it Up Blue” et al. I should put a note on that one about how it might only be relevant in the U.S.

campdracula5eva asked: Re: that anon - Also, most of us are considered to be permanent children anyway, so an interest in anything is taken as evidence of us being childish.

Yes, this.

Anonymous asked: I suppose I'm just a bit confused, because a lot of those "Autism problem" images are things that apply to everyone, autistic or not.

What makes them autistic problems is that autistic people experience them with a frequency that sets them apart. Being told you are childish for a particular interest (as one example) can happen to anyone, but it happens much more frequently to autistic people because autistic people are much more likely to have a very strong interest in something considered “childish” in the first place.

I also wasn’t aware that everyone experienced the sensations of shower water or cotton as painful.

Mod note: This is a submission received anonymously that is too excellent to present in any form but the original.

One thing that sucks about being considered high functioning is that you really doubt how disabled you really are. Then when it hits you that you are really as disabled as that, you feel crappy because you struggle so much.

What’s even worse is that because you seem so capable to others, they expect a lot more from you and when you don’t reach those expectations, you are scorned. If you tell them that you are struggling with it because of your disability, people think you’re just being a wuss and not trying hard enough, even if you try hard every single day to cope. 

Another problem (slightly related) is when you meet other, more accomplished autistics who turn out to have been far more severe than you were during childhood. I mean, obviously you are impressed and feel happy for them, but then you start feeling shitty and start wondering if maybe you are just flawed as a person.

These are silly little insecurities that I have, but they do have an impact. I wonder if others identify with this?  

fearsfortherestofus:

Soon a new version of the DSM, the criteria used in the field of psychiatry to determine mental illnesses will be released. Many people are worried because of the removal of Asperger syndrome, and worry that this will remove their diagnostic label. I’m going to go down this and explain what these changes mean for the autistic community at large.

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Anonymous asked: I have to honestly say I don't see autism as a disability at all. If a fish lived among humans, it would be called disabled because it can learn to ride a bicycle. Is it disabled? No. It's a fish. I know it's not quite the same thing, but I don't see the difference in the idea. We're just different. I mean; is a man disabled because he can't have a baby? Just my opinion...

(N.B.: There are men who have functioning ovaries & uteri and can have babies.)

You are welcome to construe your own autism any way you wish, but there are many autistic people who consider their autism to be a disability. This is not the same thing as saying it’s a bad thing, or saying they want to not be autistic. I construe my own autism as a disability because it severely limits my ability to try new foods due to texture sensitivities. My touch- and texture-sensitivities have caused me great pleasure in spite of the great pain they cause me, but they, among other aspects of my autism, are certainly a disability for me.

mommy-cuteella asked: I believe autism is a disability, but I do not believe autistic people need to be "fixed" for being autistic. I also believe that no one is socially retarded, because social skills exist in all of us.

In response to the anon who self-described as “socially r****ded” and desired to not be autistic.

Anonymous asked: I feel that autism is a disability. I'm autistic. I see no benefits to being socially retarded and obsessive. I feel like I'm broken, and I need to be fixed.

This is in response to the parent who wrote that their autistic son doesn’t need to be fixed.

The admins of Autistic Problems take the position that if an individual autistic person desires to be “fixed” (whatever that means to them), there is no problem with this, as long as the person is not intent on enforcing such fixing on other autistic people. It is perfectly fine to consider your own autism a disability and to wish that you specifically were not autistic. It’s just not okay to impose that on other autistic people.

Additionally, there are people who consider their own autism a disability, but do not desire fixing or a cure.