I've covered the medicating thing. Now for the question of labeling at all.
Me: I spent YEARS avoiding an official label, because that stuff about people being imprisoned by labels? Guess what. People can and do totally use labels to imprison each other. Sometimes people even internalize that. Having a label is a HUGE problem when people will do that with your label. But... once I was an adult, and in control of my own life to an extent that if someone tried to imprison me with the autism label, I could fight back, certainly exit the situation, and possibly even outright win? Once no one but me could easily disclose it and have the ability to prove it if need be? Yeah, at that point I figured it was safe, so I went in to see if the label I thought I had was accurate. It was. And I use it to describe myself, because it's accurate.
I work with my label, not against it. That doesn't mean I let it dictate my life. It means that I don't beat myself up over the occasional failure to pick up on social cues. It means that I don't worry about this perseverating thing. It means that I bring a stim toy with me so I can concentrate better. It means I use my pattern recognition to my advantage.
Not everyone can do that. Some people think that labels are inherently imprisoning. For them, maybe they are. It's their decision whether or not they want a label. Not mine.
Just like it's my decision whether or not I want a label. Not theirs.
They don't get to use misunderstood science to try and prove that my label is invalid and think I will listen. If they put it as something I should accept, they can deal with my taking down their logic hole by hole. You know, one of those things that being autistic probably helps with? Yeah, that.
Basically: Don't mess with my choice about labels, and I won't mess with yours.
Me: I spent YEARS avoiding an official label, because that stuff about people being imprisoned by labels? Guess what. People can and do totally use labels to imprison each other. Sometimes people even internalize that. Having a label is a HUGE problem when people will do that with your label. But... once I was an adult, and in control of my own life to an extent that if someone tried to imprison me with the autism label, I could fight back, certainly exit the situation, and possibly even outright win? Once no one but me could easily disclose it and have the ability to prove it if need be? Yeah, at that point I figured it was safe, so I went in to see if the label I thought I had was accurate. It was. And I use it to describe myself, because it's accurate.
I work with my label, not against it. That doesn't mean I let it dictate my life. It means that I don't beat myself up over the occasional failure to pick up on social cues. It means that I don't worry about this perseverating thing. It means that I bring a stim toy with me so I can concentrate better. It means I use my pattern recognition to my advantage.
Not everyone can do that. Some people think that labels are inherently imprisoning. For them, maybe they are. It's their decision whether or not they want a label. Not mine.
Just like it's my decision whether or not I want a label. Not theirs.
They don't get to use misunderstood science to try and prove that my label is invalid and think I will listen. If they put it as something I should accept, they can deal with my taking down their logic hole by hole. You know, one of those things that being autistic probably helps with? Yeah, that.
Basically: Don't mess with my choice about labels, and I won't mess with yours.
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