I have a longer response, but autism is medically not a disease. At all. It is a disorder. Which as an ADHD adult, a sister diagnosis of neurodivergence, I still think disorder is a shit term for it.

I don’t feel disordered. I feel passionate, clear and empathetic. I have all the typical qualifiers of a stable and successful life, and then my hyper fixations and highly specific hobbies I have invested into deeply.

Neurotypical people often come off as disordered, with some really bizarre priorities that seem to really hurt them badly on a daily basis. Which is one qualification of having a disorder. It’s an unfair moniker in many ways, as most of the tension between neurotypicals and neurodiverse individuals is in each group missing the cues and information given by the other, yet one group gets to assert dominance over the other with labels.

Again, however, not a disease. Disorder is even in the name, it’s what the D is ASD stands for.