this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2025
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I'm not picky about "official diagnosis" for this question; I know there are a variety of reasons not to have one either intentionally and/or willingly or otherwise.

Do you folks consider your autism a disability? I have seen online a number of people say they don't think it is, and it may not be so much for them, but someone with higher support needs might think it is. But also I don't know those posters' support needs, so I can't really judge on that basis either. I figured the easiest way to find out would be to directly ask you all. So if you feel comfortable answering, I would appreciate your feedback.

EDIT: Sorry I can't respond to everyone's comments; there got to be a whole lot of them! But thank you all for your input!

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[–] booty@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago

The way I understand it, my doctors believed I have autism, but my guardian refused to sign off on an official diagnosis. I don't know how any of that works, I was like 9. Anyway, at school I had a PEP, and I had a lot of difficulties that other kids didn't have. I would say that when I was a kid, in a school environment, it certainly disabled me to an extent.

These days, as an adult with a job I chose, I don't really think of it as a disability. But maybe it is. The way I see it, I just have some extra things to consider that other people don't. But, then, so does a person who can't use their legs, really most of the extra stuff they need to worry about on an average day is "where are the wheelchair ramps" and stuff like that, which I guess isn't that much different from considering how stuff out and about might affect me differently with my autism.

I guess I don't have a simple answer. Yes and no. If it's a disability it's a very mild one for me. If it's not a disability then I've got some particularly troublesome quirks. Either view is acceptable to me I guess