[dogma1138]

Any abnormality that adversely affects the form or function of the human body that does not stem form physical injury is a disease.

The problem here is that most people think that those who suffer from autism are the quirky guy at work who’s good at math while in reality most of them would be in diapers trough adulthood.

In reality it is a terrible debilitating disease that enacts a huge toll on both those who suffer from it and their families. I really hope no one would have to live through the fear that they can’t die because no one would be there to provide the life long support their child might need, not to mention having to live with that responsibility for the rest of their natural life.

[anoncake]

The issue is that it's really both. It's kind of pointless to debate the effects of autism when one side is thinking "Light Aspergers" and the other "Adults in diapers".

[dogma1138]

Unlikely, at least not in a clinically useful manner. A disease is a disease, one of the strongest arguments against the "high functioning" part of the autism spectrum these days is that these people don't seem to exhibit much if any of the comorbidity syndromes prevalent to autism especially the physiological one.

The lower you go on the spectrum the higher the chances for comorbidity for a lot of other conditions, mitochondrial and metabolic syndrome, fragile x chromosome, gastrointestinal diseases and many many more horrific things.

For example the reason why many people who suffer from autism would require diapers after being potty trained isn't because of MR or any other intellectual disability but because they are more likely to suffer from encopresis which leads to fecal leakage.

It also doesn't help that the image of autism was changed from kids that would require tremendous support for the rest of their life to SV engineers making 500K a year that can't seem to be able to not be a jerk or are too introverted.

As an anecdotal evidence I managed to get myself diagnosed on the spectrum in the UK I went to an official diagnosis center and had sessions with an "occupational therapist", at no point have I ever seen a doctor not to mention a neurologist. As morbid as it sound I have that framed just by my ordained minister license which I got despite being Jewish.

If ASD has a single or a subset of related underlying genetic causes then it's a single disease, and if these causes are present both in high functioning and low functioning autistic individual then it is truly a single condition, however it is still a disease just like relapsing MS is a disease even if it never fully flares out.

That said however I have a strong feeling that the more we understand the epidemiology of ASD the more likely we'll find out that it's much more likely a group of distinct diseases with different causes. And some might not even be classified as a condition anymore.

[astine]

"The lower you go on the spectrum the higher the chances for comorbidity for a lot of other conditions, mitochondrial and metabolic syndrome, fragile x chromosome, gastrointestinal diseases and many many more horrific things."

Or the greater the likelihood that the autism symptoms are caused by one of these conditions as opposed to it being a primary condition. Fragile-x in particular is a genetic condition known for its physical and mental effects, much like like prader-willi syndrome or down syndrome. It's just as likely that effects from these conditions are being misdiagnosed as autism.

Your post seems confused more generally, though. What clinicians are diagnosing with ASD is a cluster of symptoms, not a specific syndrome. Symptoms can have multiple etiologies and that would still be useful clinically. A cold is treated similarly regardless of the exact viral strain causing the infection.

That a particular person doesn't have to deal with anal leakage is not an argument that they don't have a different condition.

"As an anecdotal evidence I managed to get myself diagnosed on the spectrum in the UK I went to an official diagnosis center and had sessions with an "occupational therapist", at no point have I ever seen a doctor not to mention a neurologist. As morbid as it sound I have that framed just by my ordained minister license which I got despite being Jewish."

If I was willing to lie to a therapist, I could probably get diagnosed with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or any of a large number of disorders, but the presence of malingering creeps doesn't disprove the existence of those conditions.

[glomph]

Unless evidence becomes available to make such distinctions becomes available it is confusing and misleading to define autism differently than the standard way.

It is really dangerous to claim that autism can't be a serious condition unless it is alongside low IQ or physiological symptoms. It is also entirely unnecessary to stigmatise autism by calling it a disease, when it is so often inextricably linked to a persons personality.

Those with autism absolutely can be high functioning in the sense that they don't have the kind of co-occurring conditions that you describe. This does not always mean they do not need what most would see as drastic interventions and care.

People with autism often have a high ability to function on some social axis but are dangerously unaware of social conventions in others. Those with autism that lack the proper support can hurt themselves, they can hurt others, they can cause massive social disruption and they can end up with serious mental health problems. A diagnosis of autism can help society to provide much needed support.

We owe it to everyone in society to think about how we can help people without considering their states of existence defective.

[her_tummy_hurts]

The problem is how diverse people with Autism are. So in reality autism is the quirky guy with social problems, those who need life long support, and everything in between.