Table 4.
Examples of autistic participants’ definitions of autism spectrum disorders.
| “A range of neurological phenotypes that affect how autistics perceive sensory input, language, social cues, etc. They also develop along a different neurodevelopmental trajectory; skills may be delayed or acquired in an atypical order.” I,M |
| “A different way of perceiving and responding to the world and stimuli” I,N |
| “I do NOT agree that the autism spectrum is a disorder. I take offense at the those who put together this survey calling AS a disorder. It is a DIFFERENCE. It is actually a more orderly wiring of the brain, so calling it a disorder is way off base. The extra nerve endings can be disabling. But when people on the spectrum find their hidden talent, they blossom and are a jewel to behold.” I,M,O |
| “They are a nonsensical and arbitrary distinction within an obviously gradient set of traits, intended to define the autism continuum as a set of disorders.” O |
Internal I, Opposition to medical model O, Autism as neutral difference N, Support medical modelM