{"id":4338,"date":"2010-06-23T18:15:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-23T23:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tameri.com\/autisticme\/?p=4338"},"modified":"2026-07-26T21:26:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T02:26:32","slug":"different-vs-disabled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tameri.com\/autisticme\/2010\/06\/23\/different-vs-disabled\/","title":{"rendered":"Different vs. Disabled"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Anosognosia is the state of denying a serious disability. In the most serious cases, it is a mental health disorder, causing the deaf to insist they can hear or the blind to insist they can see. Obviously, not a good thing and potentially dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>I have received e-mails critical of the instances when I have described myself as disabled. People have offered many terms and phrases as alternatives &#8212; and I have rejected these: differently abled, special, challenged, gifted, blessed, evolved, perceptually acute, sensitive, et cetera.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t deny my limits. I know I cannot do some things.<\/p>\n<p>There are definitely physical impairments I have that might not apply universally. To assume I am only writing of my unique neurology is a mistake. I am physically disabled; these are mild limits and do not affect my daily existence.<\/p>\n<p>The neurological differences I face are not a &#8220;gift&#8221; most days.<\/p>\n<p>In &#8220;neuro-diversity&#8221; communities, there are those who deny autism is anything more than a difference. These are a minority, but a vocal minority nonetheless. The logic of these activists is to challenge and resist public misconceptions of autism, especially within the high-functioning \/ Asperger&#8217;s syndrome subcategories.<\/p>\n<p>It is definitely a disability to be unable to handle mass transit, many public spaces, bright lights, loud sounds, strong smells, and so on. It is not a mere &#8220;difference&#8221; to be stuck at home many days, unable to tolerate the sensory overload of normal existence.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, I am different, but I&#8217;m also disabled.<\/p>\n<p>Do not confused disabled for unable. I think that&#8217;s the real concern of activists: having a disability does not mean an individual cannot adapt and plan around any personal limitations. We all work around our limits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anosognosia is the state of denying a serious disability. In the most serious cases, it is a mental health disorder, causing the deaf to insist they can hear or the blind to insist they can see. Obviously, not a good thing and potentially dangerous. I have received e-mails critical of&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tameri.com\/autisticme\/2010\/06\/23\/different-vs-disabled\/\">Continue Reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Different vs. Disabled<\/span> <i class=\"fas fa-angle-right\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4014,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":1,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,1,7],"tags":[23,218,221,364,490,804],"class_list":["post-4338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy","category-general","category-health","tag-ableism","tag-disability","tag-disclosure","tag-identity","tag-neurodiversity","tag-self-identity","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Different vs. Disabled - The Autistic Me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tameri.com\/autisticme\/2010\/06\/23\/different-vs-disabled\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Different vs. Disabled - The Autistic Me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anosognosia is the state of denying a serious disability. 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