Labels vs. Life

by Dora Raymaker · 2009-07-07 16:00:00 UTC
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a sunflower against a blue skyIs it Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, or both? is the headline of an Examiner post that, well, talks about autism vs. sensory processing disorder a.k.a. sensory integration dysfunction.

This is akin to discussions regarding autism vs. nonverbal learning disabilities (that link is a discussion by various professionals on a case study and is a case study in itself for the point of this post here).

And also akin to discussions regarding autism vs. semantic pragmatic language disorder.

On one hand, these labels can be a really positive source of self-understanding, of needed supports and services, of better communication, and a key to finding accommodations that work.

On the other hand, these labels aren't life--how people think, feel, experience and interact with the world is incredibly complex. Even if we discard (ha!) the interplay between personality, history, and biology, mind remains too complex for us to even define let alone label with a tidy diagnostic word. Sometimes it's easy to forget the artificiality of these labels.

In the end what matters isn't whether a person "has" this thing or this other thing or both, what matters is that a person "is"--complex, undefinable, real, alive.

Dora Raymaker
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