by NTSOG » 06 Oct 2023, 4:45 pm
G'day d4n73n,
As discussed, some time ago under Tasmanian laws in relation to ADHD and obtaining a firearms licence, Autism is not a mental illness, but a developmental disorder. Disorder refers to the development from birth of autistics being out of normal order or occurring in a different order in comparison to so-called normal people. I am autistic as is my younger brother. Autism comes down our father's line; it runs in our family. Both of us legally own and use firearms. The authorities don't need to know we are autistic as we are (1) just developmentally different, (2) not mentally ill, (3) not under the care of a psychologist or psychiatrist and never have been, and (4) have a clean criminal record. As has been explained by other contributors, e.g., Fionn, being under the care of a mental health specialist within a certain time frame would likely have to be declared. Autistics can develop mental health issues as can the rest of the contributors to this Forum! Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation about autistics. Some of it is via Hollywood, e.g., Rainman, and some of it is because in the past autistics were often misdiagnosed as [Childhood] Schizophrenics up to about 1980. The majority of autistics - about 70% - are intellectually impaired to greater or lesser extent. The rest operate in the normal range of intelligence from about Full-Scale IQ 70 + up to as high as can be tested - for a select few. I know many adults who are autistic. They include a school Principal and many teachers as well as a therapist and a psychologist. All are skilled and function well in society in part because they are very 'ordered' people.
I worked professionally with autistic clients, children and adults beginning in 1976 until I retired in 2016. I probably came to know about 2000 autistic clients, most presenting complex developmental and/or behaviour problems, especially severe to extreme during my career in the USA and Australia.
By the way I do not consider I 'suffer' from autism. I am autistic and happy to be who I am. However, I did suffer severe and violent bullying when I was at school and further bullying when working in government/public service [Disability Services] at the hands of members of the social work trades who found my blunt and logical manner confronting and made life difficult for me. Being autistic I am asocial and call a spade an F****** spade. The ever-loving social justice types don't like that.
Jim