To understand that Autism is NOT a mental illness?

[Oxfordblue]

Just that really, someone posted that autism is a mental illness.
I understand autism to be a different way of thinking/perceiving etc. Not an illness that one may or may not recover from

(My daughter is waiting for an assessment for autism & I would hate her to feel that she 'has a mental illness' & actually find that statement so disempowering. The world needs people to think differently, to challenge ideas that maybe set in stone & blur the idea that one size fits all.)

I don't think you're being unreasonable. It's classed as a disorder though isn't it?

I guess if the autism means needing and accessing extra support (school for example) then we have to define it somehow?

No it isn't but your post seems to imply there is something lesser about people who do have a mental illness?

It’s not a mental illness and currently there’s talk of removing the word disorder too.

I don’t think OP is demeaning people with MH problems (I’m autistic and have MH problems, two separate things) and a lot of autistic people are wrongly labelled or people make assumptions which need to be corrected.

Language is important,

It's classed as a disorder though isn't it?

Go to a gathering of the dead and tell them they’re disordered. Go on, try it.

Deaf. DEAF not deaf.

OMG

But YAsoNBU OP.

@Battleax of all the times for a typo

But aye, you’re right. So much negative language associated with various disabilities and it matters.

😂

I’m away to burn my phone.

Battleax, in fact, I'd say they're dead disordered...

Well I really don't see it that way but then again I don't know much about it. I have always though of illness as something you catch or develop that you can medicate/manage or recover from.

Yes it is not classed as a mental illness. It is seen as a disability and that has the benefit of allowing people to get support and financial help so I think that is right. Many autistic people consider it to be a difference as you say and prefer the name Autistic Spectrum Condition rather than disorder. They point out most of the problems they face are due to our society being set up for NT people and if things were more autism friendly they might not have a problem. It also fails to recognise the abilities autistic people often have that seem to be part of the condition. However I would say don't underestimate the difficulties you and she might have in some areas of life she might have problems with.

at a gathering of the dead.

It is a neurological disorder what would choose to term it? complaint? syndrome?

Op my son is autistic and has improved loads since I read about the association with anxiety and autism... so we do focus on his mental health hugely, mindfulness yoga and hypnosis apps.

@NewYearNewMe18 condition. Not disorder, disorder is (like a lot of words used around disability) perjorative.

I just had a quick look at the National Institute of Mental Health site and it says 'Autism Spectrum Disorder'.

I won't be asking the dead

“Condition” @NewYearNewMe18

The definition on the NAS website is “developmental disability” and the NHS uses “disorder”. WebMD uses “neurobehavioural condition”.

No-one seems to be using “mental illness” who actually has any understanding of the topic.

😏

But it’s developmental Laiste, not MH at all.

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross you’d be surprised how many problems for autistic people are thrown up by people who know nothing about it.

It’s the stereotypes and assumptions that need to be challenged regularly and it’s bloody exhausting.

Disorder implies that something has gone wrong and is out of order.

Autistic people can get lots of secondary disorders - anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, developmental coordination disorder, to name only three.

But autism itself is a difference, not a disorder. We could equally diagnose neurotypicals with Neurotypical Spectrum Disorder.

I'm going to bow out because i know bugger all about it and don't want to offend to all.

Mental illness , neurological disorder , what's actually at the heart of the angst over what the condition is called ?
So we shouldn't say these things because it's an insult?
How very insulting for anyone living with a mental illness.

There should be no stigma around Autism. There should be no stigma around Mental Health. They are 2 separate and very different things however.

Autism is a complex neurological disability. Personally, we do not use the word disorder. It's not about being oversensitive. Language is important.

We are some years along the road from you, and wish you and your DD all the best, OP.