Autism isn't a fucking superpower !!

[lollipoprainbow]

Sorry but it's really not. I'm currently doing an online autism course with a lovely bunch of parents and the teacher of the course is sweet but she will keep referring to autism as a superpower and everyone chuckles and agrees!! If they could see how distressed my dd10 is every day, having massive meltdowns about her looks etc they'd have a different view.

Anyone else agree with me ??

I don’t really see it like that @strawberrylacey for me “the autism” is different from other neurological deficit’s because it can be observed in those with high and low IQs, those with crippling anxiety, savage sensory disorder, OCD, aggression, verbal non verbal passive, autocratic, and with every disability available to any other human. The point is that some (many?) of the autistics seen as low functioning are actually just not able to interact in ways that allow them to connect and show you who they are. So it’s not so much that autism is an umbrella term it’s that autism is ONE part of who a person is, it pervades all parts of that person but isn’t ALL they are.

Oh I'm so sorry I didn't mean to sound so ignorant about the wheelchair use. I realise it looks really bad, thank you to the posters who replied to that honestly

@FancyAnOlive I don't think we'd have music, maths or the internet without the brilliant neurodiverse brains of some autistic people. are you suggesting that neurotypical (and I specifically mean non autistic) people can’t be brilliant at maths, music or tech??? Because that’s just not true. Autistic people have of course contributed to all these fields but so have dyslexics and red heads and all sorts of people.

Well it’s bollocks isn’t it? They’re not called the triad of impairments for nothing.

Thanks for the Facebook group info. I will have a look.

@5zeds no, I mean that those fields would be likely to look completely different - I think the contributions of autistic people in those fields have been huge. They would still exist without them though!

That doesn't stop mumsnetters.

It's just the current fashion to describe every disability as a superpower. The term "disability" wasn't coined to be hurtful, it is an apt descriptive term. To describe disabilities as superpowers is patronising, irritating and just plain stupid.

@deydododatdodontdeydo I've got 3 dc with autism. DS1 is like a swan, DS2 and DS5 are definitely not, their frantic paddling is a lot more visible.

Just back from a class birthday party where the gulf between my dd and the other girls was there for all to see. Hate this life so much.

I really hate birthday parties; playdates and sports days where everything that is different just seems lit up in neon lights. (ASD 12 year old here)

It's damned tough at times.

Agree. Had a wedding this weekend with a lot of kids having a great time and DD hated pretty much every second. Resolved not to put her (/ us as parents) through that again, need to be better at saying no to things