To understand that Autism is NOT a mental illness?

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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.)

legofan and Sodding So sorry to hear what you and your sons have gone through. My ds is 8 and I think this may be our future too, our present is certainly shaping up that way

I am really hoping that we can reach out and connect with other families and children with autism through local support groups, charities, etc. Have you found this to be possible where you are?

High functioning implies the person is not affected in a profound way. Which isn’t always true. Spot on and thank you for this. I have been trying to explain this to my family for a while. They were pretty much in denial and blamed me for not setting boundaries or disciplining him right up until we got the diagnosis.

We have such a long way to go in this issue. Certainly, autism, or Aspergers is not a mental health condition. Note I use the word 'condition'. I have bipolar, currently still known as a 'disorder' in the medical books (I guess my brain and chemicals are not in order, fair enough!). I am not suggesting that it doesn't make me ill at times, but I'd personally prefer to name it as a condition rather than an illness. This is purely because I don't want to feel as though I'm saddled with it, it is, by its nature, something that rises and falls, and sometimes I'm on a perfect level. My point is, I hate others giving me a label, and certainly not 'illness'. So much stigma, still. Literally just my take on it, and no offence meant.

@LauderSyme I’m sorry your boy is having a tough time too.

I’ve found a local group which has been really good, we don’t go any more since we moved but I’ve kept in touch with some people. Is there anything like that local to either of you?

I refer to myself as autistic, it’s how I prefer to refer to myself.

My husband is autistic. I’d say it’s a disability. Not mental health problem though. I have those to balance us out
For my dh it’s a disability in many many ways. I think being called disabled also has negative connotations though. The reason I say I would call it a disability is, even though my husband simply appears ‘quirky’ to most NT people, the energy he has to put in to simply hold down his job. It’s an ongoing process. I’ve been with him ten years and I still have to help him appear to be able to have a normal conversation.

It’s such hard work and a massive disadvantage to simply not be able to see social ‘norms’.

He does well though but if he could choose to be NT he would as it’s causes him a lot of stress behind closed doors, not so much at work, so in his instance he would not consider himself to have anything other than a disability and would hope to obtain the same ‘rights’ as a disabled person should he require it.

Of course it’s not a mental illness.

It was CAMHS who assessed my dd, not a doctor or any other medical professional.
I presumed it was in there with mh, otherwise someone else would have assessed.

People get so hung up on labels and defining exactly how functioning or not functioning etc and to be honest it's all just nonsense

In your opinion.

ThistleAmore - Just because you have an Aspergers diagnosis and it's not a disability for you, doesn't mean it's not a disability for other people. You say that for those who are non-verbal and more "severely affected" that it affects their basic quality of life, well guess what that's true of so called high functioning people too.

I have an Aspergers diagnosis, can't live alone though, didn't finish college (barely got through school), can't really handle being around other people and forget about relationships. I spend 99% of my time shut up in my room, wouldn't you say that it affects my basic quality of life?
Actually I don't even think I have a life. And you know what I am so sick of people saying "oh, but you're so high functioning, you're intelligent, you're not severely autistic like your brother is."
I don't know why it's so hard for people to accept that we are both very affected, just in different ways. It's almost like NTs can't cope with holding two ideas in their head at the same time.

I've come to really hate the word Aspie in recent years, ever since I found myself excluded from a group meant to be for adults with "Aspergers and HFA" for not being high functioning enough for them. Anyone who didn't fit their idea of what an Aspie was quickly found themslves excluded and ignored, until only the most able remained. The painfully ironic thing about it is that we needed the group more than they did.

I'm also offended by your insuation that only Aspies have hobbies, people like my brother are people too you know. Just because he's "severely autistic" doesn't mean he has no hobbies or interests, limited speech doesn't make him less of a person.

And what's wrong with saying autism is a disorder? My (and other autistic people's development) is disorderd, in that our development takes a different pathway to that of NTs. It's not offensive to say that, it's just stating a fact.
Equally annoying is the "ends of the spectrum" phrase, I hate people implying that "you're at the other end of the spectrum, you have no idea what life is like for my severely autistic child."
Two points about that, A) you can't make judgements about anyone based on their ability to post on the internet. B) No offense but unless you actually have autism then you have even less idea of what it's like to be your severely autistic child than I do.

I have a colleague who has a severely autistic child and he always refers to it as a mental illness.

Any discussion is welcome as I have a limited frame of reference.

@DetectiveGoren - I am in your camp, honestly. I agree with what you say.

@Boredandtired but it is your opinion, and you have no more right to speak for me than I do for you or did you miss the last few pages?

Words matter to me. Terminology matters and for you to dismiss that as nonsense is unfair and frankly fucking rude.

So you can patronise and talk about your years of experience (I have 36 years experience as an autistic person and 11 so far as the mother of 3 autistic children) but it doesn’t mean you are the sole authority on it.

Going back to the part about NTs with all their experience presuming to know it all.

Ugh. I thought we were getting somewhere, but no, apparently not.

Just who do you think you are to think your years of experience trump everyone else’s? Who are you to dictate how others feel or see things? Why do you get to lay down the law?

Presumptive, offensive, patronising and bloody rude.

Re: 'autistic person' / 'person with autism' - I prefer the latter, however I am not the Identity Police, so either is cool AFAIC.

However it should be a position led by 'autistic people' / 'people with autism' - nothing about me without me.

However it should be a position led by 'autistic people' / 'people with autism' - nothing about me without me.

Yes! I absolutely agree, unless the person is non verbal in which case having someone advocate for them is needed. Other than that, nope.

well nobody should get to lay down the law people can only talk about their own experience of autism ,I'm not autistic but i do have an opinion on my own child's autism and how it affects him ,but autism isnt just one condition,disorder or disabillity (in my child's case) it is many isnt it?

@Boredandtired again your opinion. You described labels as nonsense, I said that was your opinion and you gobbed off back.

Presumptive. Also, far too bloody common.

So you can pretend you didn’t, but you did.

I copied and pasted that part because that was the part I took issue with. Because it was rude AND YOUR OPINION. You then fired back snootily about your “years of experience” as if that somehow made you the authority. Which it doesn’t.

Anyway, I’m getting pissed off now. Say what you like, but just know the harm you cause whenever you do it.

and btw my child is 8 and non verbal so can't speak for himself

@MissusGeneHunt:

We have such a long way to go in this issue. Certainly, autism, or Aspergers is not a mental health condition. Note I use the word 'condition'. I have bipolar, currently still known as a 'disorder' in the medical books (I guess my brain and chemicals are not in order, fair enough!). I am not suggesting that it doesn't make me ill at times, but I'd personally prefer to name it as a condition rather than an illness. This is purely because I don't want to feel as though I'm saddled with it, it is, by its nature, something that rises and falls, and sometimes I'm on a perfect level. My point is, I hate others giving me a label, and certainly not 'illness'. So much stigma, still. Literally just my take on it, and no offence meant.

Thank you, and yes, I agree.

From what we understand of autism thus far, it seems to involve a different pattern of neurological 'wiring' (hence my preference for calling ASDs 'differences', rather than conditions or illnesses or disabilities.

In my head, I'm fine: it's other people - the NTs - who cause the problems.

@SoddingUnicorns - yes.

and btw my child is 8 and non verbal so can't speak for himself

Hence my caveat about non verbal people needing someone to advocate for them!

,but autism isnt just one condition,disorder or disabillity (in my child's case) it is many isnt it?

Eh? It's one condition.