Whats Autism classed as?

[Hopinghonestly]

Just been diagnosed with Autism..(very late in life)

What is it classed as? Like its not mental health, not learning disability? What is it under? I'm filling out my online forms and i am confused what tick box you tick.

I'm not convinced that advice to not declare it before starting a job is good advice. If you start that job then declare any kind of existing disability (mental or physical) it could create problems if you then ask for reasonable adjustments. It wouldn't be discrimination on the part of the employer if you hid it in the first place.

“Some” people with autism. Some people are very badly affected by the condition and need carers and living support.

It's still a disorder. Some people use the word 'condition' as they think disorder is offensive but it is the correct medical term. A disorder is 'a disruption to regular bodily structure and function', A condition is 'an abnormal state of health that interferes with the usual activities or feeling of wellbeing.' Autism is normal, but it is not the norm.

Yes it would still be discrimination if they failed to make reasonable adjustment when you declared your disability. You just can’t claim discrimination for potentially discriminatory actions if the employer was not aware at the time and couldn’t reasonably have suspected.

https://www.acas.org.uk/supporting-disabled-people#:~:text=Nobody%20has%20to%20tell%20their,comfortable%20to%20talk%20about%20disability.

Speak for yourself. 😂😂😂😂😂

It's a neuro diversity. If you can disclose it's with while as you are protected under disability discrimination.

www.rcn.org.uk/Get-Help/Member-support-services/Peer-support-services/Neurodiversity-Guidance/What-is-Neurodiversity

I’m always baffled by people who shy away from the term “disorder”, it’s not belittling in any way, it’s factual. In many ways it’s particularly accurate for autistic people who’s development is often out of the normal order in a way that can seem chaotic to their nt peers, and who’s deficits and gifts can lead to the commonly termed “spiky profile”. It’s a core description of the experience, however impacted you are by your autism.

Cognitive?

It sounds like you've learned about yourself so whatever box you go for, things will be better in the next job I reckon. Best of luck to you.

Hopefully :) thank you. Also knowing what it is now helps. As before i would just become really insecure and make matters worse. Now i can sit back and rationalise the situation to try and solve the issues rather then it all blow up :)

’normal’ is also problematic for many but ‘typical’ is just a synonym.

I also have a problem with ‘neurotypical’ being used as the antonym to autistic; just because you are not autistic does not mean you are neurotypical.

@IWillNoLie nt very much doesn’t mean the opposite to autism. It’s really important because in conversations where it’s used you are not comparing the asd population to those with other non typical presentations (eg adhd, LD, etc) you are very specifically stating “compared to the norm)

The ‘norm’ is a normal distribution curve for the whole population - if you start removing groups you will skew your reference group. You would need to be much more specific if you are comparing to other ‘neurodivergent’ groups (like those with FASD, brain injuries, high IQ, learning disabilities, dyslexia, dyspraxia, elderly) or if you are using matched controls.

The ‘norm’ is a normal distribution curve for the whole population no I think “the typical” if it was the whole population then what would be the point of saying it at all.

But that is my point. Who are you referring to as typical? Most variables fall into a normal distribution around the mean. Someone who is ‘typical’ would be those that fall within one (68%), or maybe two (95% of the population) standard deviations from the mean for the whole population. If you remove part of the population then ‘typical’ changes for the rest of the population. For example, mean IQ is 100 with 68% of the population having a IQ between 85 and 115 - a typical IQ - but if you remove those with learning disabilities then the mean and ‘typical’ IQ would rise. But also if you refer only to learning disabled individuals or those with typical IQs then you are ignoring approximately 27% of the population who are neither learning disabled nor typical IQ.

If you are describing “typical” you don’t mean outliers. Does that help? I’m not really sure what point you are trying to make. I think most people have a basic understanding of statistics.
Autistic development can be disordered and deficient, but obviously you can only appreciate that if you have an understanding of how the majority (typical or norm) develop.

My point is still the same; not being autistic does not mean you are neurotypical. But in working out what constitutes neurotypical you must consider the total population (including autistic).

I think that’s a niche take on things and illogical.

I think @IWillNoLie is correct.

It would be the same as a physical disability. A person with one leg is disabled because having two legs is the typical human. But that’s it. You can’t assume any thing else about having legs. Some able bodied, two legged humans can’t walk ( a baby for example) and some won’t walk.

Similarly whilst you might say neurotypical to mean someone without autism doesn’t hold that the group are all typical in other ways. The NT group will also have people that have difficulty with social interaction, communication and imagination that aren’t autistic.

Not being black does not mean you are white, there are non-blacks who are not white, when we talk about “whites” we would not be including other people of colour.

(Apologies for the weird racial descriptors)

It's also a lifelong neurodevelopmental disability. As I have to explain to DWP each time my teens DLA is up for renewal. I have had so many DWP people ask me 'when did 'when will they grow out of it'. They won't. Its lifelong. You may develop 'coping strategies' but ASD is for life.

DLA/PIP is based on need not in diagnosis so while they won’t stop being autistic they may become an autistic person who doesn’t qualify for disability benefits.