(Tw for ableism, meltdowns, elopement, etc.)

Hi, I am currently in an argument with someone in a comment section because they are saying that autism is not a disability. So I decided that I want to make a post about it, and thoroughly talk about it.

If you do not know me, hello. I am an autistic primarily nonspeaking teenager with mid-high support needs. I'm disabled.

I am honestly very tired of low support needs autistics saying that autism isnt disabling, because it very much is for me and a lot of other people. Just because your experience isnt the same as ours, doesn't cancel out our experience.

I will never live alone. I am a teenager who can not make food, or blow dry his own hair. My ability to use oral speech varies a lot, and when I can use it, I usually end up having severe meltdowns from it. I am in special ed. It hurts when I brush my hair. I have put myself in danger by running into the street. My emotions are extremely strong, so I often seem rude when I'm not, I just can't control the fact that when I feel something it's so incredibly strong that it hurts. I have little to no internal sensation. I could not bathe myself until I was 9 or ten, and even now I will not just go and take a shower myself; I need someone to tell me to, and I need a visual schedule to help me do so. And many more things.

The person's response was to then say that is not because I am autistic, that is because of the way mankind is. That my autism is not disabling, society is. And whilst I do agree that society is horrible to disabled people, and it would be much much easier to exist as a disabled person in this world if society was different, that doesn't change the fact that my autism is disabling. Me being nonspeaking is not because of society. Me being unable to care for myself is not because of society. Most of the things on that list are not because of society!

Just because low support needs people exist, does absolutely not give them the right to speak over us, and tell us what our experiences are or are not.

My autism is disabling. Listen to me. Listen to me. My life has been severely impacted because I am disabled. You can not sit there and tell me that me being unable to care for myself, and unable to live alone ever, isn't disabling, and that it's because of society.

I am disabled. Stop speaking over high support needs autistics.

Expanding a bit on last week's post.

I love to crochet. I love it, and it's one of my favourite things to do, but it's really hard. Not just because of the skills I need to develop and the physical and mental load it puts on me. Because I have sensory issues and joint problems. I can't crochet for too long or my hands hurt. my wrists hurt. I need to take breaks all the time. I need to stop and stim for a while to distract myself from how the yarn feels every so often. and all this is when I wear a glove. After I have already made accommodations for myself and my needs.

And I get told that I'm not really disabled. That I'm looking for attention. Yeah, I can't do the things I love as much or as well as I used to be able to because of my deteriorating joints, and you think I'm faking it? I cry because I'm not able to do a simple hobby that I love and you think I'm looking for attention???

Autism is a disability. People who have undiagnosed conditions are still disabled.

shoutout to autistic people that have imposter syndrome. Shoutout to autistic people who have neurotypical traits. Shoutout to autistic people who feel isolated in our own community. Shoutout to self-diagnosed autistics. Shout out to autism.

there is no effort without error

It’s been said before but I’ll say it again:

autism is a disability

and while we are disabled by society, we are not only disabled by society. It’s a fairly common sentiment among low support needs autistics that “if society was accommodating, we wouldn’t be disabled.”

I think part of this can just be a step in the learning process. Maybe you just got diagnosed and are still figuring things out and unlearning internalized ableism.

But nah, I’m overstimulated in spring by the black flies and contrasting warm sun and cool wind. I’m overstimulated in summer by the suffocating heat and the feeling of sweating. Fall is the same as spring, as well as what I can do each day being super unpredictable because of the changing weather. Winter is evil and I have to stay inside for almost the whole season.

I’m overwhelmed by the sound of people chewing, a door opening unexpectedly, my own breathing sounds, my clothes smelling slightly different, the difference in water texture at other peoples houses.

Our brains are wired differently. We are inherently disabled (in my experience). And that’s not a bad thing.

Yes some are more disabled than others, but your autism wouldn’t just disappear if you have accommodations. It can get a lot more manageable, yes! But not disappear. And if it does, you probably weren’t autistic in the first place.

Also, the very fact of needing accommodations kind of negates the whole “not disabled” argument lol. Like, “if everything was different, I wouldn’t be disabled!” Sure, if everything was different, maybe we could fly too, but that’s not our reality 😅

man ok idk if youll be able to advise on this or something but like. do you know anything regarding dealing with like internalised ableism?

i live in a rural part of ireland, right? and idk what it is about rural ireland but some of the people are heinous. my school is in a small miserable-ass town and like. God, man. not everyone sucks, of course but like. jesus lol additionally i have a ~mildly ableist~ mother (a "we're all a little bit autistic" and "erm. youre not disabled because youre not in a wheelchair or blind/deaf" etc etc type stuff. + "npd = bad person" which isnt particularly good for me specifically because i have npd (that i both Cant get an official diagnosis for, for various reasons, and im not really Looking for one either because i know what i am and its not like you get support for it because ~ooh scary narcissist~.)

and like. idk if this is Obvious but that can kinda cause a weird-ass relationship with You (being Me in this case, yk how it is with the second person perspective when. ranting) and The Concept Of Being Disabled. like, objectively. im disabled. im autistic, ive definitely got adhd (that im hopefully going to get examined for at some point cause college stuff requires it for the disability forums and stuff. gotta love that. fuckin 80% comorbidity right?), ive got a laughable number of repetative strain injuries, i have a sensory processing disorder, an endocrine disease that effects my Entire cardiovascular system, a spine that felt a lil quirky and bent in too much. so on a so forth

but also like. it feels wrong to call myself disabled. yk, like im doing a disservice to all the other ~actually~ disabled people (being Anyone but me lol) (none of this is At All helped by the fact that my mother refuses to listen to me regarding Jack Shit about my health in Any way. "oh you nearly passed out on top of a hill because of your cardiovascular condition? erm youre just not exercising enough actually" "you dont have depression [said while i was filling out an assigned mood diary after being forcefully brought to camhs for Reasons" like. shut the fuck up and Listen to me please. at least Entertain the idea that i could be right about something for fucking once lmao. cause ive been right about EVERYTHING regarding my mental health so fucking far so. fuck off /nay ofc) (also man. like, even if you ignored the physical issues ive got im still disabled on account of being autistic. like, motor function is fine, despite being a lil clumsy and/or unsteady sometimes but like. my emotional needs are Fucked. think of the response youd get if you asked a. fuckin. 8 year old or something to do algebra. but with a very emotionally stunted and traumatised 17 year old lol. lmao, even /lh)

so like. if youve got. any advice or whatever on any of this thatd be Super cool + no pressure obvs. sorry this is a whole. like. fucking essay's worth of Random Guy Complaining To You On The Internet lol

-🐢 <- just so i can find this again if you respond. i Like Turtles. i am Normal about the tmnt and also turtles The Creatures. i wont talk at length about turtle mutant anatomy (i am deceiving you)

Internalised ableism is a really hard thing to deal with, especially when you're surrounded by people who constantly re-enforce it. I've also spent a lot of time worrying that I'm not disabled 'enough' to deserve certain accommodations, that I'm making an unnecessary fuss. But the truth is, autism IS a disability and if there are accommodations that can help support you, you deserve access to them. You're not taking away from others with disabilities by advocating for yourself.

It's taken me a long time to understand this and I still worry sometimes. What has helped is talking about my experiences with people I know understand, like my therapist or best friend, and learning about the experiences of other autistic people through books, social media, YouTube and even real life.

I'm sorry your mother and others aren't being understanding - remember that's a them problem, not you, and try to spend your time with people who do understand.

🐢🐢🐢 <- the turtles wish you luck

Autism IS a disability, and I'm tired of people (mainly alistics and neurotypicals) saying it's not. No, it's not a "different ability". It is a disability.

I love being autistic, but that doesnt mean it isnt disabling?? Being disabled isnt a bad thing. Disabled isnt a bad word. It's just what I am.

I am in special ed. I use AAC. I need help with lots of basic tasks. (I made a whole post about my support needs so I'm just gonna leave it at that for this post).

I am disabled. AUTISM IS A DISABILITY.

There seems to be some confusion out there. Hope this helps. 😉

Here are the tasks I have in mind for Olly to learn. Only pay attention to the ones I highlighted. I found this list of tasks, and highlighted what would benefit us.

Again, here is our GoFundMe to help with the cost of training Olly.

$390/20k

i wrote this when i saw this unfold but i’m posting it later to let me actually read through it and make sure i’m making sense

autism is inherently disabling for a LOT of people no matter what level or how high their support needs are. i wasn’t diagnosed with a level and i’m not gonna guess which level i’d be given, but i’m able to do things like make and keep friends in person, go to big events with just my partner and participate in group stuff that happens there, and i have had the ability to mask in the past. what’s important here, though, is that my autism still disables me and i still need accommodations to participate in education, i still need adjustments made to make my life something i can handle, and i still need help. i’m still semiverbal and a part-time AAC user too, which people seem to think is exclusive to higher autism levels when it’s not. autism isn’t my only disability so my overall support needs aren’t just autism related, but i have low-mid support needs. i can complete most bADLs, although there’s a couple i need help with, and iADLs are very difficult for me, i need someone else with me to help me whether that’s to help me understand how money works and how much i’m spending, or to break down paperwork for me so i can process it to fill it in. that’s not all autism related so doesn’t all matter here, but what does matter is that i’m still disabled and still need a lot of help to live a normal life even with lower support needs. support needs aren’t compared to completely abled people, they’re in comparison to other disabled people. my support needs are low-mid in comparison to other disabled people which includes people needing 24/7 around the clock care and supervision. my autism is considered less ‘severe’ than other autistic people who have higher support needs and more difficulties with day-to-day life because of their autism, but that doesn’t mean my autism isn’t a disability. it’s not decided who’s disabled and who’s not by who has the highest support needs, and low support needs people can still be very much disabled by their conditions.

BTW if you criticize aspie surpemcy but your silent on the medical model of disability, your not a ally to autistic people.

If you think autism is always a disability 100% of the time and you think disability is 100% biological your not a ally of disabled people.

If you don't understand that there are many reasons why society might decide something is a disability outside of a medical problem that is inherently harmful to the disabled person your not a ally to autistic people.

So ableism detected at level ones is disguised as criticism of aspie surpemcy. Biological essentialism has no place in the disabled community.

hey we’re gonna get real emotional here but as a kid, what behavior did people exhibit that made you realize that due to your disability (of any kind, mental or physical) people will act nice to you to feel better about themselves?

For example mine was when the book “Wonder” came out and literally every. fucking. adult. That i knew. Would tell me to read it and “oh i think you’ll find solace in it because Auggie also (doesn’t have friends/is different/feels isolated/insert any fucking thing that happens i didn’t finish the book out of spite)” when my disability is Autism. Like basically what did people do or say that made your brain go “oh, oh they want to feel good about themselves for talking to a Disabled Kid”