# Are you disabled?



## Purple Lemon (Jul 20, 2013)

I'm just curious how many of us Personality Cafe people are disabled.
So please vote, and comment with your personality type and disability (if you want, I know it can be a touchy subject)

So I'm an ENFP and I have

HMSN (Hereditary Motor Sensory Neuropathy)

Scoliosis

And Mitral Regurgitation

And this isn't really looking for sympathy, I've made peace with my problems... this is more like research.


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## muffleupagus (May 14, 2013)

I was diagnosed PDD-NOS in 1994, which would likely have been a label of Asperger's if I saw the shrink just a couple years later. I also have CAPD, which in my case, amounts to me not well filtering out auditory and visual stimuli. It also varies depending on my current stress levels, with more information funneling in the more stressed I become. It's a gift/curse. 

I don't consider these mere dis-abilities. They are deviations in neurology which provides me with a different way of perceiving information, and interacting with the world. 

I take no meds, and do my best to benefit those whom I deem worthy of my energies. 

( I refused to answer the poll, btw)

According to wiki, 1/5 Americans are considered disabled, and 1/10 are seriously disabled. Oh how fit the species is, atm...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_disabilities

If we lived just a few hundred years ago, many of you today would be pushed out from the group. Over several generations of allowing the weak to remain within the group and procreate, dysgenics becomes a reality. 

Actually, it's argued that dysgenics started in parallel with civilization. The unnatural environment we created, enabled us to get by thinking poorly, while catering to the lowest common denominator. 

That means this new lowering of standards is simply a new norm. We don't even realize we were already degenerating before coddling the weak. 

*note* I see both sides. The compassionate, and the natural. Both have merit. Just throwing a different angle out there.


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

I don't know how your personality type would have anything to do with this so I won't bother including that, and you might find a lot of disabled people probably won't be willing to dob themselves in.

As for me:

MDD, SAD, and CFS

Progressing well with all of these and otherwise I'm healthy.


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## Monsieur Melancholy (Nov 16, 2012)

I don't know if major depressive disorder and social anxiety disorder are considered mental disabilities.

They've definitely disabled me in terms of school. I was pretty much all A's and B's until I developed these illnesses, and now I've been failing severely.


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

Nope.


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## TwistedMuses (May 20, 2013)

I am pretty physically and mentally healthy, but with a big risk of developing a depression/anxiety.


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## Vaka (Feb 26, 2010)

Migraines, depression, ADD, avpd if that counts
My sister's an INTJ and has epilepsy
Mom's an ENFJ and has very intense anxiety and depression


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## Glenda Gnome Starr (May 12, 2011)

auditory processing disorder, sensory processing disorder, hyperacute hearing. The first and the third are actually considered to be hearing problems although I don't have any hearing loss, which is what people normally think of as a hearing problem. I have trouble tuning out background noise (all noise is loud and distracting) and I don't understand rapid speech and I have trouble remembering verbal instructions.
But physical or mental? Don't know. 
As for "mental," I do have several phobias but those are not really disabilities.


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## Thief Noctis (Jan 6, 2012)

Unless severe depression counts (although it's more of a mental illness than a mental disability), no, I'm not disabled.


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## RandomNote (Apr 10, 2013)

Does bad eyesight count as a disability?


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## StElmosDream (May 26, 2012)

I did used to consider Aspergers 'a disability', however I actually found introversion, intense mental focus and inquisitiveness (over theory of mind 'issues' one can develop) to be most beneficial in educational settings with more autonomy granted and discussion time granted, similar how 'a disability' is only such a thing when seen as problematic or not the norm.

Now instead I prefer to highlight my dyslexia and stress as factors for heightened hearing and short term memory restriction factors, when autism like most diagnosis can be improved upon in some way over time or understood better until it is less of a problem in itself.


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## Glenda Gnome Starr (May 12, 2011)

Yes, it could be. If your eyesight cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses, you would be considered to be "legally blind." If your eyesight can be corrected, it is not a disability (just an annoyance).



RandomNote said:


> Does bad eyesight count as a disability?


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## RandomNote (Apr 10, 2013)

walking tourist said:


> Yes, it could be. If your eyesight cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses, you would be considered to be "legally blind." If your eyesight can be corrected, it is not a disability (just an annoyance).


Alright then its just an annoyance(which it is) since i use glasses.


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## Glenda Gnome Starr (May 12, 2011)

I have the same annoyance. I hate waking up in the morning and seeing nothing but a blur until I put on my glasses. On the other hand, I've been able to use it to my benefit. I used to be shy about singing to an audience at a recital. So I removed my glasses and sang to blurs. Since I couldn't see people's faces or their reactions, I felt much more confident and was much happier about performing. Now I am much less shy about that.



RandomNote said:


> Alright then its just an annoyance(which it is) since i use glasses.


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

Monsieur Melancholy said:


> I don't know if major depressive disorder and social anxiety disorder are considered mental disabilities.


Then what would you call them? Physical disabilities? 

This is why awareness is so important, people.


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## Monsieur Melancholy (Nov 16, 2012)

NinthTome said:


> Then what would you call them? Physical disabilities?
> 
> This is why awareness is so important, people.


Not what I meant. I'm just saying I don't know if they're legally/medically classified as actual disabilities.

When I think mental disabilities, I think of things like autism and dyslexia, or schizophrenia or severe bipolar. Things that severely inhibit your functioning in day-to-day life.

The ones I mentioned that I have seem more like illnesses than disabilities, really. Like saying someone with diabetes is disabled. Doesn't quite sound right.


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## Vaka (Feb 26, 2010)

And my uncle has schizophrenia, depression, addiction, other mental illnesses, and he's probably an ISTP. But take that with a grain of salt. I'm basing it partially on the fact since he was a small kid, he's loved figuring out how things work, taking them apart and putting them back together again. I didn't know him before he took drugs.


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

Monsieur Melancholy said:


> Not what I meant. I'm just saying I don't know if they're legally/medically classified as actual disabilities.
> 
> When I think mental disabilities, I think of things like autism and dyslexia, or schizophrenia or severe bipolar. *Things that severely inhibit your functioning in day-to-day life.*
> 
> The ones I mentioned that I have seem more like illnesses than disabilities, really. Like saying someone with diabetes is disabled. Doesn't quite sound right.


You don't have much knowledge or understanding towards people with depression and anxiety. Both can be _debilitating_ for a person every single day, both stop you from doing things that you'd like to do, and both effect your work and behaviour.


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## Monsieur Melancholy (Nov 16, 2012)

NinthTome said:


> You don't have much knowledge or understanding towards people with depression and anxiety. Both can be _debilitating_ for a person every single day, both stop you from doing things that you'd like to do, and both effect your work and behaviour.


No duh. I've been diagnosed with them myself. I have more than enough experience with counselors, therapists, and psychiatrists in the past year to have a lot of understanding and knowledge on the subject, but thank you for that misinformed assessment of me.

The point I was trying to make is I didn't know if they were legally or medically classified under the term 'disability'.


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## mrkedi (Nov 19, 2009)

does ADHD count?!


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## Glenda Gnome Starr (May 12, 2011)

My problems were diagnosed when I was too old for them to be fixed. I need a little bit of special treatment... non echoey rooms (there are ways of making rooms so that they don't turn into echo chambers), written instructions in addition to verbal instructions, a seat by a wall or a window in a restaurant so that no one is walking directly behind me, a quiet work environment... stuff like that. When there is too much noise, I get a horrible pain in my ears that doesn't go away for days.
Despite all of that, I am still awesome because disability and awesomeness are not mutually exclusive.




monemi said:


> I have Auditory Processing Disorder, but I didn't list myself as disabled. I was disabled. I was deaf when I was little. It was fixed, I caught up with the other kids. I still get lazy abut talking and sign sometimes and I'm over reliant on body language and facial expressions and lip reading. I don't think I'm disabled at all. Socially I have an edge over other people as I read people very well. I'm especially good at negotiating and haggling and arguing. I don't need any special treatment. I'm awesome.


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## Light_92 (Aug 2, 2013)

I'm not disabled ... I'm only a bit short sighted. But glasses or contacts are a quick solution to the problem.


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## Nyu (Jun 29, 2013)

The same as Light_92

I need corrective vision but this I don't believe to be a disability since the eye is a muscle and mine is just poorly developed.


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## Pogona Vitticeps (Mar 18, 2013)

I have high functioning autism and insomnia.


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## EchoesofNowhere (Aug 16, 2014)

I'm disabled. Rather than listing diagnoses, I'll just say: Chronic illness, physical disability, developmental disability, cognitive disability, emotional disability, psychiatric disability, these are all broad terms that apply. Listing diagnoses would take too long. If they become relevant, I'll mention them at that point.


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## mikan (May 25, 2014)

I have been born with a heart abnormality called barlow's syndrome (with a murmur) which occurs in 1- 3% of population. It causes blood leakage from the chambers. I have thin bones and Im prone to fatigue. I'm not allowed to compete in competitive sports, but when I do I feel light headed and my heart beats do not become regular so I'm advised not to do it, and follow a caffeine free diet (and I'm not doing it!) I must visit the doctor annually for echo to see if I require surgery or not. But it's really annoying, because sometimes you feel like you're dying or having a heart attack. it causes you to cough when your seemingly heart stops beating. It mainly has to do with your autonomic system, so when you feel anxious, you feel really really anxious.


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## Lexicon Devil (Mar 14, 2014)

thismustbetheplace said:


> I have generalized anxiety disorder with panic attacks, depersonalization/derealization (caused by anxiety), OCD, probably ADD, and a tendency towards depression although it's usually circumstantial. I definitely see my anxiety as a disability since it severely impacts my ability to be an effective worker. ADD, if I actually have it, is pretty hampering too.


Same here except without the ADD. I feel for you.

Also I am a tad overweight....er....morbidly obese with diabetes. 

I also have MPS with ED. Microphallic Syndrome with Erectile Dysfunction. :tongue:


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## Tezcatlipoca (Jun 6, 2014)

Only emotionally


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## Harizu (Apr 27, 2014)

No physical disability, luckily.
I have been diagnosed with Asperger's (but I don't think I have it) and ADD, but now I don't think of myself as disabled, even though I used to once.


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