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Disclosure of autism at work holds risks and benefits

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Re: Disclosure of autism at work holds risks and benefits

#101

Post by [deleted] »

_d8k6 wrote: post #98
coldtea wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no “modern discussion” around if autism is a mental illness. It is settled scientific consensus that Autism is a cognitive disability and NOT a mental illness. Actually autism is officially described and classified in the DSM-5 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of _Mental Disorders_. The rest of ad hominem, I will ignore. For one, I find the language insulting to people with mental health issues (even if o…

I hope that as you grow as a person you will adopt a more empathetic attitude towards others, and see how your words harm or have the potential to harm others. If you want to call Autism a “mental disorder” you would be correct to call it that, as it is a neurodevelopmental disorder and cognitive disability. It is not however a mental illness. The DSM V classifies a lot of different disorders, some of which are menta…

[deleted]

Re: Disclosure of autism at work holds risks and benefits

#102

Post by matkinz »

_d8k6 wrote: post #98
coldtea wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no “modern discussion” around if autism is a mental illness. It is settled scientific consensus that Autism is a cognitive disability and NOT a mental illness. Actually autism is officially described and classified in the DSM-5 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of _Mental Disorders_. The rest of ad hominem, I will ignore. For one, I find the language insulting to people with mental health issues (even if o…

I hope that as you grow as a person you will adopt a more empathetic attitude towards others, and see how your words harm or have the potential to harm others. If you want to call Autism a “mental disorder” you would be correct to call it that, as it is a neurodevelopmental disorder and cognitive disability. It is not however a mental illness. The DSM V classifies a lot of different disorders, some of which are menta…

,,

Re: Disclosure of autism at work holds risks and benefits

#103

Post by rnatkinz »

_d8k6 wrote: post #98
coldtea wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no “modern discussion” around if autism is a mental illness. It is settled scientific consensus that Autism is a cognitive disability and NOT a mental illness. Actually autism is officially described and classified in the DSM-5 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of _Mental Disorders_. The rest of ad hominem, I will ignore. For one, I find the language insulting to people with mental health issues (even if o…

I hope that as you grow as a person you will adopt a more empathetic attitude towards others, and see how your words harm or have the potential to harm others. If you want to call Autism a “mental disorder” you would be correct to call it that, as it is a neurodevelopmental disorder and cognitive disability. It is not however a mental illness. The DSM V classifies a lot of different disorders, some of which are menta…

Just the fact that you feel so offended about being called "mentally ill" shows how you feel about actually mentally ill people, like depressed people. That's all there is to it.

Re: Disclosure of autism at work holds risks and benefits

#104

Post by wwwater »

callesgg wrote: post #19

I have found it best to not talk about any psychological pathology with anyone that does not understand it(no one really understands but some people understand that they don't understand). You can mention the symptoms, but don't label it, as soon as you insert the word autism, schizophrenia, depression people will apply their own preconceived deeply flawed interpretations of the problem.

On one hand it's true and people will apply their preconceived interpretations, on the other hand if nobody talks about it these interpretations and biases will never change. People have these biases because they don't know anybody with autism/schizophrenia/depression personally, but once they know and realize that it's a human just like them, they could understand it better.

Re: Disclosure of autism at work holds risks and benefits

#105

Post by wwwater »

csense wrote: post #99

I feel like it's an open secret that a huge percentage [1] of people in the tech industry are somewhere on the autism spectrum. Whether they've been formally diagnosed is another question. [1] I don't have numbers, but greater than 50% wouldn't be surprising.

Although I do agree that the percentage of people on the spectrum is higher in tech industry than in other industries, I think it's not higher than some 5-15%. When you ascribe to every introverted person being on the spectrum, you neglect the significance of it in people who really have it. It's like you're saying "yeah, we're all like this, so don't pretend you can't do this or that".

Re: Disclosure of autism at work holds risks and benefits

#106

Post by _d8k6 »

rnatkinz wrote: post #103
_d8k6 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope that as you grow as a person you will adopt a more empathetic attitude towards others, and see how your words harm or have the potential to harm others. If you want to call Autism a “mental disorder” you would be correct to call it that, as it is a neurodevelopmental disorder and cognitive disability. It is not however a mental illness. The DSM V classifies a lot of different disorders, some of which are menta…

Just the fact that you feel so offended about being called "mentally ill" shows how you feel about actually mentally ill people, like depressed people. That's all there is to it.

I am not concerned with how I perceive mentally ill people. Mental illness touches different facets of my family in different ways. I am quite familiar with it, it’s challenges and it’s stigmas. I don’t look down on mentally ill people, because I love and am friends with many people who suffer from mental illness.

My objections are due to the societal biases that others hold against mentally ill people. My problem with calling Autism a mental illness is twofold. 1. It is factually and scientifically incorrect. Full stop. End of story. This should be enough for you, but whatever. 2. When you call Autism a mental illness you take a group of people who struggle and suffer and loop them in with another group of people that struggle suffer. Autism has enough social stigma attached to it already. When you apply more social stigma to it by attaching other labels to it, you are actively causing more harm than good.

It would be one thing to offend based on a factual argument, but you have neither facts nor a moral/ethical argument on your side. There is no reason for one to call Autism a mental illness other than a factual misunderstanding of Autism. To cling to that ignorance and claim superiority is both arrogant and egotistical. It lacks any semblance of empathy whatsoever.

Re: Disclosure of autism at work holds risks and benefits

#107

Post by forgottenpass »

csense wrote: post #99

I feel like it's an open secret that a huge percentage [1] of people in the tech industry are somewhere on the autism spectrum. Whether they've been formally diagnosed is another question. [1] I don't have numbers, but greater than 50% wouldn't be surprising.

Noticing that someone doesn't choose to play all the reindeer games the same way I would play them is different from discovering that they're fundamentally incapable.

Re: Disclosure of autism at work holds risks and benefits

#109

Post by BadCookie »

6stringmerc wrote: post #55
_d8k6 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Autism is not a mental illness. I am not mentally ill. I was born with a disability which causes social impairments and a host of other symptoms. Being Autistic is beyond my control, and is untreatable other than just trying my damndest to “pass” as neurotypical whereever and however I can. I find it incredibly insulting and damaging to label me as mentally ill.

[flagged]

The more that I learn, the more I realize how much medicine as a field is in its infancy. It is far safer to assume that supposed conditions are real and science just hasn't caught up yet.

Anyway, it appears to be only a matter of time until there is a "provable" test for autism. See, for example: https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s...

There are also observable (via fMRI) differences in the brains of people on the spectrum: http://time.com/3614487/fmri-autism-diagnosis/

Re: Disclosure of autism at work holds risks and benefits

#110

Post by PebblesRox »

awakeasleep wrote: post #44
ciaranm wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, just want to say that I've watched my own parents handle this with my youngest brother (now 13). It's incredibly difficult and draining both physically and emotionally. I can't imagine how tough it is first hand as a parent.

Does it at least improve as they get older?

I recommend the podcast Autastic for anyone interested in the topics of autism and caring for autistic family members. It’s two comedians, one whose brother and one whose son has autism. https://www.acast.com/autasticacomediansguidetolivingwithaut...
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