Re: Asperger's and Politics

February 17, 2006

> This group tends to be for people with Aspergers and people with

> Autism, or whatever terminology I'm supposed to use.

It's not just " tends to be " . If someone isn't on the autistic

" spectrum " somewhere, they're technically not supposed to be here.

February 17, 2006

>

>> This group tends to be for people with Aspergers and people with

>> Autism, or whatever terminology I'm supposed to use.

>

> It's not just " tends to be " . If someone isn't on the autistic

> " spectrum " somewhere, they're technically not supposed to be here.

That's correct -- I've had to turn away a number of people who tried

to join the group but were not autistic.

--Parrish

February 17, 2006

I don't particularly love Aspergian either, actually. I only used it

because I was searching for a good adjective to use and it was the

only thing that came to me. I like Aspie even less, personally, only

because it seems so condescending and unprofessional to me. The

other problem is that my preferred noun for my own neurology is

Asperger's autistic, which has no useful adjective or adverb form.

Again, I definitely do not believe that Asperger's autistics are in

any way superior to other high functioning autistics. I do feel that

there is a use in recognizing differences, only for educational

purposes and to recognize that there are differences so that we can

respond to those who mischaracterize the differences to work against

us.

I think another interesting aspect is approaching words like

Syndrome and Disorder. While not quite so bothersome as the term

disability, these words do have a negative political connotation, as

they put people in the mindset of dealing with a medical issue

rather than a social one. People are less likely to support us in

the face of what they see as the " medical experts " than they are to

support a social or cultural minority in the face of a majority or

an establishment, even one that they are nominally a part of.

Principled rebellion plays well in the more progressive circles of

this country. That's part of what I love about the neurodiversity

community as a whole - especially sites like autistics.org and

neurodiversity.com. We've made such progress in moving dialogue away

from the medical turf where our opponents can overpower us to the

social and cultural territory in which the tide of history is on our

side. From there, we can argue on more (though not yet anywhere near

at) equal footing.

>

> > The alternatives to that terminology, I've noted, tends to vary -

> > autistic, Asperger's autistic, Aspergian, Asperger's/HFA. I guess

> > part of the problem lies in the desire by many to distingush be-

> > tween types of autistics (high functioning or low functioning,

> > HFA or Asperger's, etc.) It might be worth pondering the social

> > and political ramifications of word choice in this respect - both

> > internally for our community and externally for our advocacy

> > efforts. Words do, after all, shape thought, as the political

> > world tends to show. What do you think about all that?

>

> As a (self-proclaimed) English savant, I don't like the word

> " Aspergian " , while I DO like the term " Aspie " , but that doesn't

> imply any political connotations. Asperger's Syndrome was my Dx,

> but I don't hold myself in any way superior to anyone on the

> spectrum. I may have been luckier than many, in that I have always

> been able to work, but I'm a " straight-up " Aspie in that I have

> suffered all the teasing, bullying, ostracism, and *misunderstand-

> ings* it's possible to have in my nearly 60 years.

>

> I don't have a problem saying that I'm autistic. I know it's true,

> but when I say that to NTs, they think I'm overstating the case,

> perhaps looking for some special consideration, or trying to get

> attention. (The latter was said about me by one of my sisters to

> the rest of my family.) I just don't fit their (mis)conception of

> what autism is like. It's like I have to redefine and explain it

> to everyone I try to tell about it. Sometimes I can " get through " ,

> but sometimes not. Often, people are slow to accept a redefinition

> of something they think they already know.

>

> Internally, mostly we just leave off the labels, such as high or

low

> functioning. There's just too many variables to pigeon-hole people

> into one group or another.

>

> Clay

>

> http://www.mogulmarketing.com/clay/chipsy.htm

>

February 17, 2006

The principle behind it as an admirable goal. I agree that the

neurodiversity movement should encompass a broad range of high

functioning autistics. But I wonder if refusing to make any

distinction serves our purposes as effectively as possible? The

truth is, there are many things that suggest differences between

Asperger's autistics and other high functioning autistics - not as a

matter of inferiority or superiority, but as a matter of simple

difference. I'm not very well briefed on the science of this issue,

I'll be honest, but my understanding is that there are both

similarities and differences in the different neurologies on the

high functioning autistic spectrum. Recognizing and learning about

those differences - while maintaining a common political position on

the inalienable rights of all of us - might be helpful, in terms of

education and advocacy. Our enemies come at us in the guise of facts

and science. To defeat them in the realm of public opinion, we have

to fight back both by turning this into a moral and a political

issue, but also by showing that their facts aren't as strong as they

would have people believe. The only way to do that is to provide

alternative facts of our own, recognizing all aspects of the

situation.

I guess what I'm saying is, might you agree with the idea of us all

having a common autistic identity, but also recognizing the

differences between types of autistics, in a non-devaluing fashion?

-Ari N. (who is in a very jubilant mood as his team just won a state

Constitutional Law Competition. Sorry for throwing in a bit of my

personal life in there, folks, I hope you don't mind.)

> > I guess part of the problem lies in the desire by

> > many to distingush between types of autistics (high functioning

or

> > low functioning, HFA or Asperger's, etc.) It might be worth

> > pondering the social and political ramifications of word choice

in

> > this respect - both internally for our community and externally

for

> > our advocacy efforts. Words do, after all, shape thought, as the

> > political world tends to show. What do you think about all that?

>

> One of the things I work for as a self-advocate and parent is to

bring

> about the day when *all* of us on the spectrum can be referred to

> simply as autistic, without it causing devaluation or cognitive

> dissonance.

>

> -- Phil

>

February 17, 2006

I don't particularly like the term Aspergian either, actually. I

only used it because I was searching for a good adjective. However,

I like Aspie even less, personally, only because it seems so

condescending and unprofessional. The other problem is that the noun

I like for my neurology is Asperger's autistic, which has no useful

adjective or adverb form.

Again, I definitely do not believe that Asperger's autistics are in

any way superior to other high functioning autistics. I do feel that

there is a use in recognizing differences, only for educational

purposes and to recognize that there are differences so that we can

respond to those who mischaracterize the differences to work against

us.

Another interesting aspect is approaching words like Syndrome and

Disorder. While not quite so bothersome as the term disability,

these words do have a negative political connotation, as they put

people in the mindset of dealing with a medical issue rather than a

social one. People are less likely to support us in the face of what

they see as the " medical experts " than they are to support a social

or cultural minority in the face of a majority or an establishment,

even one that they are nominally a part of. Principled rebellion

plays well in the more progressive circles of this country. That's

part of what I love about the neurodiversity community as a whole -

especially sites like autistics.org and neurodiversity.com. We've

made such progress in moving dialogue away from the medical turf

where our opponents can overpower us to the social and cultural

territory in which the tide of history is on our side. From there,

we can argue on more (though not yet anywhere near at) equal

footing.