4 ms·

> I think very few people actually consider it a single condition. To the point that most people that I know, including myself, say that we are "somewhere on th

> I think very few people actually consider it a single condition. To the point that most people that I know, including myself, say that we are "somewhere on the spectrum" or some variant of that. Couldn't disagree more. The "autism is my super power" movement is borderline offensive to people dealing with severe or low functioning autism. Dismissive, uninformed comment.

nerdjon 11mo ago
I have never in my life used "autism is my super power" so please don't put words in my mouth. I will agree that it is offensive but that is very different from saying "somewhere on the spectrum" when I don't feel like having a more in dept conversation. And again my point is that contrary to what the article seems to be trying to make, no one really considers Autism a single thing.
- nxor 11mo ago
  The article is about ASD.
- dpark 11mo ago
  You obviously did not claim autism as a superpower. Still this “everyone is a bit autistic” stuff is kind of absurd. It diminishes the condition. > most people that I know, including myself, say that we are "somewhere on the spectrum" No one says “everyone I know is a bit paraplegic”, because that would be insane. Yet people glibly call themselves autistic as if having geeky hobbies or a job in software is the same as being diagnosable as having an autism spectrum disorder.
  - nerdjon 11mo ago
    > Still this “everyone is a bit autistic” stuff is kind of absurd. It diminishes the condition. Again nowhere am I saying that. Maybe I could have worded it much better but I never meant to imply, it happens that like myself a larger portion of the people I hang out with are diagnosed which for me works with just saying "most people" but I can see why that was not clear.
    - dpark 11mo ago
      Fine. You said most people you know.
  - mystraline 11mo ago
    [flagged]
- jklinger410 11mo ago
  I'm not putting words in your mouth. What I'm saying is, if we had different names for different types of autism, saying "autism is my super power" wouldn't be such an issue. And if "no one considers autism a single thing" THEN WHAT IS EACH THING? lol
  - ceejayoz 11mo ago
    > And if "no one considers autism a single thing" THEN WHAT IS EACH THING? lol We don't have a name for every color on the light spectrum, nor can the average person tell you what's different about #FF0000 vs #FE0000. They still exist!
    - jklinger410 11mo ago
      Autism should not be treated as a single condition
      - ceejayoz 11mo ago
        No one is disagreeing with that. People are trying to point out that the "spectrum" thing is the medical field doing precisely what you're asking for.
      - nerdjon 11mo ago
        Please point me to anywhere that it is treated as a single thing that isn't the people using Autism to push an anti-science agenda. It is an Umbrella term that is well understood to be a "spectrum" and well understood to not be the same for 2 different people. My question though, what is the point of separating it. What do we actually gain from doing so? I guarantee you these attacks will still exist. I don't have a degree in this but I have to imagine there was a good reason that Aspergers is no longer its own diagnosis.
squigz 11mo ago
??? In what way is GP being dismissive, or taking the "autism is my super power" position with that comment?
mystraline 11mo ago
> Couldn't disagree more. The "autism is my super power" movement is borderline offensive to people dealing with severe or low functioning autism. I doubt those types are saying much of anything. Its more likely their caregivers. Again the old name for those of us who think its more a super power used to be called Aspergers syndrome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome . And we got folded in to Autism Spectrum Disorder, as did a whole host of other diagnostics. And we have been found to be more truthful, better at focusing, can hyperfocus, notice more details than NT's, and plenty more. We're only a disease cause we're the minority.
- computerthings 11mo ago
  [dead]
- deleted 11mo ago
  [deleted]
- kube-system 11mo ago
  Many with Aspergers take advantage of their strengths (as anyone does) but it is not without its difficulties
- some_random 11mo ago
  >And we have been found to be more truthful, better at focusing, can hyperfocus, notice more details than NT's, and plenty more. We're only a disease cause we're the minority. Yeah and this is why Autism shouldn't be treated as a single condition, even if the cause is the same the outcome is meaningfully different than someone who cannot function.
- alphager 11mo ago
  It's not a disease, it's a disability. As someone with a diagnosis, I would add several sensory issues (for me it's noises, multiple conversations at the same time, stickiness, physical contact, whole categories of food and several others) and several social issues to your list of superpowers. Seeing it purely as a positive is insultingly reductive. To be clear: I would not take a cure if it somehow got invented, but it /is/ limiting in a multitude of ways even in the best cases.

nerdjon 11mo ago

I have never in my life used "autism is my super power" so please don't put words in my mouth. I will agree that it is offensive but that is very different from saying "somewhere on the spectrum" when I don't feel like having a more in dept conversation. And again my point is that contrary to what the article seems to be trying to make, no one really considers Autism a single thing.

nxor 11mo ago
The article is about ASD.
dpark 11mo ago
You obviously did not claim autism as a superpower. Still this “everyone is a bit autistic” stuff is kind of absurd. It diminishes the condition. > most people that I know, including myself, say that we are "somewhere on the spectrum" No one says “everyone I know is a bit paraplegic”, because that would be insane. Yet people glibly call themselves autistic as if having geeky hobbies or a job in software is the same as being diagnosable as having an autism spectrum disorder.
- nerdjon 11mo ago
  > Still this “everyone is a bit autistic” stuff is kind of absurd. It diminishes the condition. Again nowhere am I saying that. Maybe I could have worded it much better but I never meant to imply, it happens that like myself a larger portion of the people I hang out with are diagnosed which for me works with just saying "most people" but I can see why that was not clear.
  - dpark 11mo ago
    Fine. You said most people you know.
- mystraline 11mo ago
  [flagged]
jklinger410 11mo ago
I'm not putting words in your mouth. What I'm saying is, if we had different names for different types of autism, saying "autism is my super power" wouldn't be such an issue. And if "no one considers autism a single thing" THEN WHAT IS EACH THING? lol
- ceejayoz 11mo ago
  > And if "no one considers autism a single thing" THEN WHAT IS EACH THING? lol We don't have a name for every color on the light spectrum, nor can the average person tell you what's different about #FF0000 vs #FE0000. They still exist!
  - jklinger410 11mo ago
    Autism should not be treated as a single condition
    - ceejayoz 11mo ago
      No one is disagreeing with that. People are trying to point out that the "spectrum" thing is the medical field doing precisely what you're asking for.
    - nerdjon 11mo ago
      Please point me to anywhere that it is treated as a single thing that isn't the people using Autism to push an anti-science agenda. It is an Umbrella term that is well understood to be a "spectrum" and well understood to not be the same for 2 different people. My question though, what is the point of separating it. What do we actually gain from doing so? I guarantee you these attacks will still exist. I don't have a degree in this but I have to imagine there was a good reason that Aspergers is no longer its own diagnosis.

squigz 11mo ago

??? In what way is GP being dismissive, or taking the "autism is my super power" position with that comment?

mystraline 11mo ago

> Couldn't disagree more. The "autism is my super power" movement is borderline offensive to people dealing with severe or low functioning autism. I doubt those types are saying much of anything. Its more likely their caregivers. Again the old name for those of us who think its more a super power used to be called Aspergers syndrome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome . And we got folded in to Autism Spectrum Disorder, as did a whole host of other diagnostics. And we have been found to be more truthful, better at focusing, can hyperfocus, notice more details than NT's, and plenty more. We're only a disease cause we're the minority.

computerthings 11mo ago
[dead]
deleted 11mo ago
[deleted]
kube-system 11mo ago
Many with Aspergers take advantage of their strengths (as anyone does) but it is not without its difficulties
some_random 11mo ago
>And we have been found to be more truthful, better at focusing, can hyperfocus, notice more details than NT's, and plenty more. We're only a disease cause we're the minority. Yeah and this is why Autism shouldn't be treated as a single condition, even if the cause is the same the outcome is meaningfully different than someone who cannot function.
alphager 11mo ago
It's not a disease, it's a disability. As someone with a diagnosis, I would add several sensory issues (for me it's noises, multiple conversations at the same time, stickiness, physical contact, whole categories of food and several others) and several social issues to your list of superpowers. Seeing it purely as a positive is insultingly reductive. To be clear: I would not take a cure if it somehow got invented, but it /is/ limiting in a multitude of ways even in the best cases.