Is autism a disability? Why it depends on the context

I've been seeing a lot of people arguing lately about whether or not autism is a disability...

And I really wish more people realized that the question "is autism a disability" means different things in different contexts...

And half the time when people are arguing over this question, they are debating in two completely different arenas, thinking they are in the same one. 

Context 1: Is autism a disability medically and legally?

You can't actually argue that autism isn't a disability from a legal or medical standpoint. 

Both of these are facts. 

The medical and legal fields (at least, in the US) recognize autism as a disability. So in this specific context, the question is not up for debate. The answer is an unequivocal "yes."

Context 2: Is autism a disability from an individual perspective?

This actually changes based on who's answering the question. 

You CAN argue that autism doesn't FEEL disabling... 

But only if you're autistic. 

If you're not autistic, you can't make this claim because you can't actually know the answer. 

But even if you *are* autistic, you can't tell another autistic person who feels disabled by their autism that "autism is not a disability."

You CAN say, "it's not a disability _for me_." But during these conversations, it's rare to see a person specify the "for me" part.

It's usually said as a simple statement of fact... "autism is not a disability." (This is based on my personal experience having been in this space for over 5 years.)

Similarly, when an autistic person says "autism is a superpower"... it's rare that they specify "for me." 

So the statement comes across like it's being applied universally. Which is a problem. Because one autistic person can't tell another autistic person how to feel about their own autism. 

And, likewise, no one should be telling an autistic person who feels empowered by their autism that they can't or shouldn't see it as a superpower. 

Now, if a person is NOT autistic and they claim it's a superpower... well, in this case, they are just gaslighting all autistic people who feel disabled by their autism... which is a LOT of autistic people.

All this to say... I think the main problem we're having right now is that there are a whole lot of people making universal claims about autism being, or not being, a disability...

And not enough people acknowledging that there are many different views on this *within the autistic community itself.* All of which are real... and _equally_ valid.

And as a community, we need to shift away from blanket statement language about autism, to "this is my personal experience as an autistic person" language if we want to get anywhere with this discourse. 

Otherwise, we'll just keep talking in circles and getting nowhere as a community. 

And, to be clear, I'm only talking about context 2 here. 

Because, again, context 1 is not debatable.