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 can lend you a spade (?)

Sounds good to me

Hi again everyone. I withdrew from the thread near the start because I could see the way it was going. Times to engage, times to take a break. It's tricking trying to get those times right, but we've got to keep trying when/if we can.

We also have to keep crossing that drawbridge when/if we can, but sometimes you just want to fill that moat with disablist-eating sharks

Tricky not tricking.

Though sometimes I do feel tricked

This bothers me too, it’s a neurological disorder and as such can be cured.

Mental health issues classed as illnesses can be cured, or at least managed. On a very simplistic level of course!

I'm going with Chouetted . The NTs are theh disordered ones. They make little sense. I do wonder what the tipping point is for NT/ASD(C) because high functioning people are becoming more and more aware that they may not be 'weird' just autistic. Since it's not an easy thing to diagnose, I wonder at what point awareness needs to get to before we realise that actually perhaps the NTs are less typical than we think. I think the only way to tell is from brain scans? If so, until we call get scanned, there's no way to tell just how common it is since many of us walk around knowing we are not NTs but are not on any official register anywhere. I work with IT depts where I am pretty sure many of the adults are high-functioning and there they don't feel or act out of place, but in other environments would suffer. In the new world of increasing technology, are the 'NTs' going to find working environments a lot harder to live in? Will they become the minority, if indeed they already aren't? In which case 'disorder' is definitely a misnomer.
misses point of thread

Personally I feel they go hand in hand. I have autism, and I live with quite severe, life limiting anxiety. The anxiety is definitely linked to the autism. I can't travel. I haven't left the town I live in for probably a year now. I can only do the same thing day in, day out, and even then, I take medication to cope.

And for the record, I do not feel 'disempowered' to have a mental illness. That is a disgusting opinion to hold.

We also have to keep crossing that drawbridge when/if we can, but sometimes you just want to fill that moat with disablist-eating sharks

Now that’s my kind of moat

This bothers me too, it’s a neurological disorder and as such can be cured.

Say what now?

Autism can be cured? What’s the cure then? Enquiring minds (and the global aspie and medical communities) want to know.

Cured? What? Have I missed something?

Apparently @DianaPrincessOfThemyscira has an important breakthrough to share sodding 😏

(See the post at 14.56)

I am hoping that it was a typing error, the not being missing?!

However, WonderBoy's finger is on the button and we're getting ready to

RELEASE THE SHARKS

Oh yes maybe. Hopefully.

I have some koi carp I can add to the defences

Koi Carp. There's posh.

They’re quite fierce koi.

wait I spelled sceptically wrong

Haha posh fish and sharks, we’re sorted!

This thread has demonstrated how the mere word "mental" is viewed so negatively, and that makes me so sad.

The definition of mental is "done by or occurring in the mind". But it has come to be known as the shortcut to meaning impairment of the mind. And colloquially to mean "mad" or "insane".

The only place its seems that its not viewed negatively is when referring to mental maths or making a mental note!

Every single person functions both physically and mentally. All these functions can be affected by genetics, the environment, infections, accidents etc. etc. Neurological differences impact on physical functioning and they impact on mental functioning. Cerebral palsy is not a physical "illness" but it is a neurological condition that affects physical functioning and sometimes mental functioning .Suggesting that a neurological condition like autism affects mental functioning shouldn't be a cause for horror. And it is not the same as calling it a mental illness.

We have to either ditch the word completely, or use it with confidence and without shame.

Wait did I actually spell sceptically wrong?

The definition of mental is "done by or occurring in the mind"

Yes. And there is a difference between mental / mind and brain / neurological.

I meant to say such to the ignorant poster who tried to school me in the 'autism = mental health disorder' bullshit but I couldn't be arsed to deal with such ignorance.

I am "that ignorant poster" *TerfsUp"

To be accurate though is important because someone who suffers from poor mental health can recover, whereas someone with autism is already who they were supposed to be.

Someone with bipolar or schizophrenia can't 'recover'.

Just as with physical functioning, a person can have a mental illness from which they may recover or they may have a 'condition/disorder/difference' which is part and parcel of their make up. Flu and depression for me are 'illnesses' autism and CP are not.

Well, then, Teggun. You know what I think of your post. And there is no need to put double quotes around my username. It is what it is.