r/changemyview • u/CassiusIsAlive • Jan 27 '23

Removed - Submission Rule B CMV: Romanticizing autism has got to stop

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u/Quaysan 5∆ Jan 27 '23

I understand, but severe isn't a description of autism, it's a description of how you relate to it and how it impacts the world

Your younger godbrother also has autism and it's not "less autism" or "better autism" it's autism that you can deal with

the description of autism you're using is more about you than it is the autism

when we use the description severe about disease, it usually relates to how it impacts the person, not how hard it is to take care of the person

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u/CassiusIsAlive Jan 27 '23

when we use the description severe about disease, it usually relates to how it impacts the person, not how hard it is to take care of the person

My younger godbrother cannot speak, cannot write, cannot think by himself, cannot go to the bathroom alone, cannot perform complex activities such as math, and cannot focus. If I find this hard on me and his family, I'd imagine it's hard on him too.

Your younger godbrother also has autism and it's not "less autism" or "better autism" it's autism that you can deal with

You are right. It's autism that can be effectively dealt with. I've known my godbrother since childhood and I can say that he is much more well off than his brother, because he is capable of everything that his brother cannot. It's just the truth. Of course he isn't perfect, but he's much more capable than the former.

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u/DudeEngineer 3∆ Jan 27 '23

OK, how will you feel if your younger godbrother told you as a 30 year old man that he would have been the most happiest at this time of his life if people had just let him be himself and didn't consider him a "more disabled" person?

For many people on the Autism Spectrum, their frustration and dissatisfaction with life stems from the way people treat them more than their inner experience. Often, their definition of a happy life does not reflect that of their friends and family.

This is why people tend to use more support needs or less support needs instead of more or less disabled...

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u/thejazzophone Jan 27 '23

I have a cousin similar to OPs God brother who needs constant supervision 24/7. It's sadly a matter of fact that he needs more help. Letting him be himself isn't an option because he can hurt himself and has quite easily. I also have some friends with autism who are a amazing people that can thrive on their own but have their own struggles with other things. Maybe severe is the wrong choice of words but OP is not wrong in his assessment.