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'm not actually talking about anyone in particular , sodding and I wouldn't dream of making assumptions just as you can make assumptions about my child ,tbh i wish there was more clarification ,its not good enough just to diagnose with Asd/Asc becsuse every one is affected differently

I never made assumptions about your child. I realise that I don’t speak for every autistic person, and I have apologised for it coming across like I was.

But functioning labels are damaging, and the dismissing of one person with autism because another “has it worse” or a parent has it harder is damaging too.

NT who presume to speak for me or label me have no right. Yet are quick enough to throw around labels of their own while condemning an autistic person for speaking.

It works both ways is what I’m trying to say.

how would you differentiate than Ice., my child's needs ie non verbal, in nappies are very different to people ((who would have got a diagnosis of Aspergers)

High functioning implies the person is not affected in a profound way. Which isn’t always true.

It depends on the other diagnoses, if there are any, and what they are.

I'm not trying to dismiss anyone and I'm also sorry if it comes across that way and I'm not trying to play disabillity top trumps either , but people at the different ends of the spectrum and anywhere in between have different needs.

I absolutely agree with that. It is a spectrum with vastly differing effects on people, and everyone deserves to be heard.

My son is 10, 11 in August and has Autism.
I'm extremely worried aboiut his mental health due to the stress he suffers. In the past year at his 'naice ' mainstream school, he has continually been called a 'retard' and been made fun of. When the children found out what secondary schools they were going to one boy asked where he was going and before he could answer said "Actually I bet it's *** (name of our local school for children with profound disabilities)
It's constant and it breaks my heart for him.

@legofansmum that’s awful. Won’t the school address the bullying?

We had to move because DS1 was targeted by some local boys, it culminated in a vicious assault and the police did nothing so we had to sell up and move.

It’s just so fucking unfair, our kids don’t deserve any of it.

Well said, Sodding.

What hope is there to survive and thrive in a society which doesn't value difference if we don't value difference between ourselves.

to everyone.

@WonderBoy thank you. I agree! for everyone.

That was about your post at 19.02 BTW, Sodding

I realised that (and am actually quite pleased with myself that I did )

I’m not reading the whole thread because I’m tired and hot!

BUT!

My theory is... it is simply evolution. As we move towards a much more sophisticated technological world, the neuto-typical brain is becoming less useful whilst an autistic brain has increasingly more uses.
Therefore we are evolving to meet the needs of today’s society.

Eventually, the autistic brain will be more dominant and a neuro-typical brain will be renamed as something else to imply a minority to be cared for and treated in a special way.

Just my theory, based on no fact whatsoever!

I'm sending him to a different Secondary school to the vast majority of them. DS has made huge progress in many ways (he was diagnosed at 2/3) and academically is very able, however, he is socially so different and. It st all sporty like the "popular boys"
I've been in and contacted them a few times but these kids know when to say stuff unfortunately - when I adults are within earshot . I'll complain agin next week. I can't wait til he leaves bir hope it's not going to be the same at Secondary school.
Awful that u had to move , in sick of a society where you can't be a bit quirky or different.

x2boys I would just talk about his needs, his strengths and weaknesses, the same as any child.

I don't believe that the spectrum is a straight line with children like yours on one end and 'little professors' on the other. We all have different strengths and things we struggle with, which can fluctuate day to day. I didn't speak until I was three and a half, I was still biting other kids at six.

Hello, adult female Aspie here.

Firstly, I fundamentally disagree with the way that Asperger's and autism have been lumped together - my life experience as an Aspie - in the sense that I have a job, a relationship, hobbies etc is very different to that of somebody who is non-verbal or suchlike, so I don't think gathering ALL autistic spectral disorders under one banner is helpful to neurotypicals. As we say, if you've met one person with autism, you've met a person with autism.

Personally, I think of autism as a difference, rather than a disability or a disorder (it's absolutely f*cking NOT a mental illness - and apologies to those who suffer from mental illnesses, but you wouldn't say that cancer and a broken leg are the same things, would you?).

However, autism exists on a spectrum (the clue is in the name), and parents or carers for autistic people who are non-verbal and so on would say it very much is a disability, in the sense that it affects their very basic quality of life.

Many people with autism (please note my choice of language here) have co-morbid mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, ADHD etc, however there is no evidence to suggest that autism is causative, rather than correlative.

@legofansmum I hope his new school is better, with less nasty kids.

DS1 is similar to how you describe your son, it’s the social side of things and anxiety that profoundly affect him.

It is sick, it scunnered me for a very long time and I’m still hugely resentful that we had to leave our home, and area where we were happy (apart from the bullying) when we had done nothing wrong.

Definitely not a mental illness. I don't know how to describe it that covers all sides of the spectrum though. For some people it's a disability, for some it's a different way of thinking and for many it's a mixture of both.

I hate the “high functioning” label. Ds would be defined as high functioning but his autism is massively disabling to him.

Conversely, @Thistle, I have a university education, hobbies, etc, but don't fulfil the criteria for Aspergers.

I'm also unable to hold down a tenancy without support so not sure where that leaves me on the functioning scale...

Its a neurological disorder.

What really pisses me off is when people define others by their label. Person first.

Thank you, it's sad because there is a safety net room for SEN children st the Secondary school, with computers and a member of staff. DS now says he won't use it as the other kids might pick on him for it. 😢 I'm worried he'll get picked I'm in the lunch hour for being so different, he's obsessed with World War history , general knowledge facts etc...
It's utterly unfair that you did, there's just no justice I swear.
My DS would be described as 'high functioning ' however he is also crippled with the being different and anxiety etc... I won't lie I'm terrified for the future.

Yeah, I dislike functioning labels. My ostensibly "high functioning" DH (married to me, has an MEng etc) has periods of being non verbal, has meltdowns if things go wrong, and struggles with self care to the point that he gets PIP. He really is disabled by his autism- and the "HF" part suggests otherwise.

@legofansmum ach that’s a real catch 22 isn’t it? The space is there but the fear prevents it being used. Argh.

I know what you mean, with DS1 it’s trains and super cars. All of them, to the point he can identify a train by hearing it! He has a friend who he’s going to high school with (specialist school) but really struggles to understand NT kids or why they laugh at him.

And I’m no bloody help because I haven’t a clue either, socially I really struggle. DP helps him a lot, and on our new estate there’s a couple of kind boys who he bikes with sometimes.

Hopefully at his new school your boy will find his tribe, even if that’s just one person. I do hope so

What really pisses me off is when people define others by their label. Person first.
I am autistic and I prefer identity first language.