I’m not picky about “official diagnosis” for this question; I know there are a variety of reasons not to have one either intentionally and/or willingly or otherwise.
Do you folks consider your autism a disability? I have seen online a number of people say they don’t think it is, and it may not be so much for them, but someone with higher support needs might think it is. But also I don’t know those posters’ support needs, so I can’t really judge on that basis either. I figured the easiest way to find out would be to directly ask you all. So if you feel comfortable answering, I would appreciate your feedback.
EDIT: Sorry I can’t respond to everyone’s comments; there got to be a whole lot of them! But thank you all for your input!
Yes, nobody with autism has a reference point for not being autistic while nobody who isn’t autistic has a reference point for being autistic, discerning between struggles you encounter because of autism, as opposed to other factors, is practically impossible IMO, and you can really only make flawed comparisons between your own outcomes and the outcomes of someone without autism. If you look at employment/education outcomes for Australia’s autistic populous you can see indication that having autism negatively impacts them.
Anyone who says autism isn’t a disability is harming the view towards autistic people and consequently the care they receive, but if an autistic person doesn’t want to identify as disabled bc of their support needs then that’s fine ig.