Autistic brony insult?

[Gay Bird 420]

One of my best friends is autistic. Despite his handicaps, he's a really clever person, enough to beat even me in a game of yugioh with a pretty crap deck. Nobody has hate for him, but he does get some more aggressive direction. I see no reason to hate or even dislike autistic people.

[Champion RD92 8,654]

Hm...I'm not autistic, but I have a hard time starting conversations too lol. But that's only with people i don't know, not with friends and stuff. 

 

I don't really get why bronies get called autistic all the time, but whatever, I don't really care that much.

[Dj Bron3 19]

I think that people are afraid of what the autistic population is capable of. When I was maybe about 12 my mother worked as a speech therapist, and countless mothers would bring their children to my mother for help. Granted she was only able to help them communicate but some of her "clients" were very large, and I mean BIG. Imagine a 18 year old kid with severe autism coming into my mothers house with a small Mexican care taker on this boy's heels. When Mom finally scheduled an evaluation for the boy, she was really frightened because of past experiences with the autistic population both severe and not. This one boy's name was Marvin and my sister and I would joke around "oh no, mom's Marvin food!" But it turned out he really was a very sweet boy although I never really got to see him because that was unprofessional. I usually hung out with the care taker saying "Como estas senior?" But apart from that, the only time Marvin ever touched mom was when they'd be sitting at the desk together and when mom got agrivated that Marvin wouldn't say a certain word, he would just pat and hold her hand saying "it's okay Mary" I think autism is just a small birth defect, and that doesn't make a person any different from who they were designed to be.

 

I also hate how people glorify it and announce it to the world that " I HAVE AUTISM" what if everyone started to glorify their problems? Think about it for a second?

 

 

I have cancer...I have autism...I have Down syndrome... I have ADHD...I have asburgers...I have this I have that...blahblahblah!!

[errant 14]

Autism is not even a disorder. If everybody was autistic then nobody would care about autism. Autism is just a label that people give to other people who do not act the way they want them to act. The reason why people hate autism is similar to the reason that people hate gay and lesbian people. They hate autism because autistic people are different and society labels them as bad people.

 

Those with the most severe type of autism can be incapable of communication with others and have no acknowledgement of the world or of others around them. Even less serious forms can be crippling. 

 

I think that counts as a "disorder."

 

However, I do take your point that those with the milder forms of the autism spectrum can appear to be perfectly normal, albeit with a few quirks. This makes autism one of the more challenging issues to deal with; it manifests differently in different people and what one person thinks of as "autism" may be vastly different from what somebody else assumes. 

 

Ultimately, autism is a disorder, but it varies in seriousness from so mild as to be indistinguishable to so profound that it leaves a person utterly crippled and helpless. 

 

However, your point about labels being used against people who are hated for being different stands uncontested. 

[Harmonic Revelations 8,833]

 I understand completely, my brother has Aspergers, which is basically normal Autism minus the learning delays. Anyways, I've never hated autistic people except this one autistic kid in 9th grade who stabbed me with a knife.

[errant 14]

 I understand completely, my brother has Aspergers, which is basically normal Autism minus the learning delays. Anyways, I've never hated autistic people except this one autistic kid in 9th grade who stabbed me with a knife.

 

I think I'd take issue with anyone who stabbed me with a knife; whether or not they had Autism (or anything else) wouldn't even matter.

[MyLittlePonyTales 273]

I don't know everything about autism, but it seems to me that it gets hate because some people just use it as an excuse to act out. I mean, some people may genuinely not be able to help acting a certain way, but I think there are also others who use being diagnosed with such a condition to get away things. I'm kind of tired right now, and can't think of any specific examples... Mmm...

 

Maybe it's like, if someone can't swim, and they get squirted with a squirt gun and freak out. They really have no reason to, as they're not going to drown from that and it really has nothing to do with the inability to swim. It makes no sense. Likewise, some people use autism as an excuse to act out at others or be a jerk, and then just write it off as 'oh I have a autism'. And, like I said, I'm not saying there aren't people that that isn't legitimate for, but some people are not, and I think that's where it stems from.

[Freewave 1,145]

I feel like people both fear and are jealous of the autistic... Just remember that it makes you unique and more mature than everyone else... Think of it as a gift, no matter what people say. 

 

Umm I'm not really sure where you are coming with this. I mean we should love & tolerate people with social handicaps but that does not mean that it's a gift or something that makes you better then the rest. I think your taking the word "special" and making to much a big deal out of it.

[Pinguino~ 85]

Honestly I know where you come from, I have all of those problems but i don't have autism I just do not undertand other humans. But yes Mental disorders have always had hate, but with the rise of the internet comes the progress of hate. Aswell people are always looking for an outlet on their own personal frustrations, so they find someone who is less off then them or vunerable. I wouldn't take any of it seriously people are going to be D**** on the internet its just how it is, but if it is in person just let it slid off and show them that you are not as bad as they think you are. (I know this doesn't sound all that great but I can't get my thoughts out correctly) Just be yourself and don't let the hate get to you!

[Nayruthepegasister 118]

Umm I'm not really sure where you are coming with this. I mean we should love & tolerate people with social handicaps but that does not mean that it's a gift or something that makes you better then the rest. I think your taking the word "special" and making to much a big deal out of it.

Not really what I meant.... It doesn't make you better than anyone else at all and I'm sorry you took it that way... I agree though, love and tolerate, we are all equal. 

[NightOwl 911]

I have Aspergers and I can struggle with making conversation here and in the real world. But thankfully I am starting to improve because of this friendly community. I think that some people fear what they don't understand and then they go and start hating on it. 

[Goose 181]

Why the hate? Well, if you're significantly different there will always be people who have a problem with it. In the case of autism probably stereotypes, the fact it's hard to comprehend people's social cues and certain other things and perhaps habits other people find annoying, like stimming.

[DND 2,354]

To be futily honest, my brothers are one of these people. Typical boys I suppose... it doesn't however make it right. 

 

I think... the reason why is that people who poke fun at others and say 'your'e retarded' or something that has a disability used as an insult is meant to signify that you are a sad human being that will never get far in life, and will end up staying with your mom forever because you need special help, yadda, yadda. This condescending cliche attitude is a 'wake-up call' for uttermost disrespect. 

 

I'm not sure if I'm disabled or not, but I have been called this once or twice by my grade-lower math level. I haven't been diagnosed after all of these years, but it sure doesn't class me as worthless and a uncomfortable person. It makes me sick to know that people are saying these things without knowing, and the fact that one of my closest friends has an most unfortunate little brother with autisim. It really just the saddest thing to know that people have the nerve to pick on the kid too. 

[Rainbow Dash 1,471]

yeah..no. I always get either confused or really annoyed when someone calls me autistic in a negative way. The reason being is that i have friends IRL who are either semi-autistic or full on autistic. Sure they can not communicate with me properly but it doesn't mean they are stupid. my autistic friends are smarter than me on most occasions. I always get called autistic on Xbox live which is stupid on the insulters behalf if he/she really knew what Autism was. My advice to you: Don't let a faceless name/nameless face get you down, cause all in all they are just another hole in the proverbial internet wall

[The Ponyville Critic 304]

I have Asperger's Syndrome and am currently in a Communication Support Base at my school, as for your question, i'm not sure why the term 'autistic' is used as an insult, if anything, i see my autism as an advantage. I also don't know what you mean by 'America is a melting pot', makes no sense.

[Righteous Fury 344]

We discussed this before. I and a few other explained in our own way why Autism is an insult: http://mlpforums.com/topic/46891-whats-with-autistic-discrimination-within-the-brony-community/

 

that thread will have a good few answers to your above question for you.

 

No. I will not stop using a word. I like using words for whatever means I desire to use them for, my freedom of speech doesn't end where your feelings begin and people both online and offline need to start getting this. Be offended all you like but no matter how anally destroyed you may be about my choice of words they will still be said and they will disappear from existence. Next week, no one will probably even remember my words but you will still be butthurt(offended) if you allow yourself to be.  I'd get if I made an actual opinion/ statement that then there actual substance to tackle and be offended about but words and insults are just trivial things to concern one self about. 

 

 

I'm not really in the mood to write up my whole explanation as to why autism is used as an insult. I wrote it already pretty in depthly in that linked thread. But in short, the vast majority of people who are consider autistic and in the public eye are normally man children douche bags or gullible and annoying savants. Autistic that are neither are not really thought off by the general person making such insults or relations. 

 

Jealous of autistic people, that pretty arrogant. No one is jealous of autistic people, maybe the benefits you may get from being autistic like those parking stickers that allow you to park in disabled zones but beyond that...not really. Autism generally comes with more negatives than positive and those that do possess natural skills in one or another are normally so crippled by the side affects that they can't make active use of them like lower class autism or normal people can. Even when you do get an autistic that is remarkable..they are consider savant-that being a type of person that is technically retarded(or badly undeveloped and hindered if you prefer- in all spheres except the one or two specific subjects that he shows genius levels in-

Knowingly using a word in a way that upsets other people isn't exercising your right to free speech, it's just you being an asshole. Which is fine, everyone has the right to be an asshole, but don't complain when people say you're an asshole, and don't act like it's everyone else's problem.

 

Also saying 'words and insults are just trivial things' is just flat-out wrong. Everyone has their own berserk buttons, everyone's sensitive to something. And everything depends on context.

 

The 'vast majority' of autistics are not in the public eye at all. Look up sampling bias. Example: most black men are not criminals, yet most black men on TV are portrayed as criminals. You wouldn't use black as an insult, even the black men who aren't criminals 'are not really thought of'.

 

You don't get a parking sticker for being autistic. 'More negatives than positives' is debatable. And there are plenty of autistics functioning in society with no or little support. Most aren't geniuses.

[An Old Head 4,815]

I'm autistic; the reason some people are autistic and can't figure out why it's an insult is because of the spectral aspect of autism. The disorder itself is linked to spontaneous obsessions with certain things, so when haters see all the Bronies dedicating so much time to the show, it's probably the first thing that springs to their mind.

 

But back to the spectrum - autism can range from high-functioning (such as Asperger's) which enhances certain human aspects, to seriously deteriorative autism in which you can never learn to walk, speak or anything, leaving no room for anything other than enjoying what catches your interest much more passionately than anyone else could be with their own interests. That end of the spectrum is very unfortunate to have, but because the trait of obsession is continual throughout the spectrum, haters will use that side of the spectrum as an insult whenever they use the word "autism".

 

I agree that it's both a terrible and ridiculous thing to do. The positive traits of autism are ignored by those who use it as an insult. Bill Gates is autistic, and look at him. Look at other geniuses; Gary McKinnon, the famous hacker. Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokémon. There is plenty of good that autism can do, and it's abhorrently shallow that people would wield it as a derogatory word.

[MiStErUnMeRry 328]

Knowingly using a word in a way that upsets other people isn't exercising your right to free speech, it's just you being an asshole. Which is fine, everyone has the right to be an asshole, but don't complain when people say you're an asshole, and don't act like it's everyone else's problem.

 

Also saying 'words and insults are just trivial things' is just flat-out wrong. Everyone has their own berserk buttons, everyone's sensitive to something. And everything depends on context.

 

The 'vast majority' of autistics are not in the public eye at all. Look up sampling bias. Example: most black men are not criminals, yet most black men on TV are portrayed as criminals. You wouldn't use black as an insult, even the black men who aren't criminals 'are not really thought of'.

 

You don't get a parking sticker for being autistic. 'More negatives than positives' is debatable. And there are plenty of autistics functioning in society with no or little support. Most aren't geniuses.

 

 

Vast majority in the public eye. As in, the vast majority of autistic that are recognized and seen by the standard masses(which they are actually exposed to via tv or them being more apparent from a distance or up close). So, yes. I'm aware of this. I am autistic. I never said that most autistic are genius but those who try to debate that autistic are something to be jealous off normally point at the fact that autistic are naturally talented or higher functioning over all without recognize that to gain those natural talents they normally become savants as a trade off or if not savants they still face a considerable number of disabilities. No one looks at a standard autistic person and feel genuine jealousy, unless they are purely jealous of possessing the label(external benefits they may gain). There is nothing to be truly jealous off. 

 

Just because people have berserk buttons doesn't change a thing. My point still stands. While their anus will be bleeding my words will be gone and everyone else may of probably forgotten them by the next day or two. He will still be upset. It IS their problem and they have to deal with it. It's not my problem, my world still goes on, my life is still good. If I legitimate want to take a stance and battle something then attacking insults is not really a good way of going about it. I should try to actively engage in political and thought provoking discussion  not cry and tell people how it offends me. Their problem, wrong approach/ wrong goals and understanding of the world. Also the net and really in real life too, more unfair for everyone else and unrealistic expectations to change their vocabulary for a small few or most likely daily case a single person. I may be a dick but I can only butthurt you if you allow a dick to. 

 

 Wrong equation. Black does not equal autistic in minorities. If someone says I have something on a disability chart then yes that makes sense as an insult.

 

"what are you, blind!?" 

 

"What, you break your legs. Get off your ass and do it yourself!"

 

"You're blind, deaf and dumb"

 

"Your political views are so disorganized I think you may be a schizophrenic"-schizophrenia is a disability technically-

Edited April 18, 2013 by MiStErUnMeRry

[DwarfEmo13 34]

They're either self-conscious and need to take their anger out on people on the internet, or are too ignorant to understand what it actually means to be autistic. Modern society tend to hate on small minorities of people, people who are different. I wouldn't take too much notice of trolls because quite frankly they're mostly idiots who spend their time pointlessly expressing their hate for others...

[SasQ 1,355]

A common insult you'll hear from a brony hater is "autistic."

I can imagine that they can try to use this word as an insult directed to anyone, not particularly a brony. They just probably think that this is a name of some mental illness, so they use it interchangeably with "stupid" when they want to call someone names.

 

But what exactly about autism causes so much irrational rage? Is it the fact that it's a handicap?

Well... is it?

 

Are people afraid of autistics?

People are often afraid of stuff they're not familiar with. Be it autism, skin color, foreigners, etc.

 

Are they jealous?

I'd doubt, because then they'd not use it as an offense.

 

You know what else bothers me? Whenever a brony is called "autistic" they actually take it as an insult, rather than telling the insulter to be more original and less ignorant. Some bronies become way too defensive when a brony hater calls them autistic.

As with every offense, it's only an offense when you let it be so. People cannot offend you in any way unless you agree upon that what they say to you is an offense in the first place. They can try to annoy you, but it is you who controls your own feelings and emotions, and no one can force you to feel bad. It's only when you let them.

 

I can't start conversations (outside of forums). If I'm ever in a conversation, it's because the other person started talking first.[/b]

I have that too. I don't know how to start a conversation with someone who I don't know, because I don't know what to talk about. I have no common subjects established with him, and no hooking point to start with.

 

So am I autistic?

I wouldn't agree on that even if some psychiatrist with doctorate would call me that!

Why?

Because I know how brains work, and from what I know about them, I know that brains can learn. Even highly-damaged brains can do that, and they can "re-wire" themselves (not physically, but "in software") to overcome the difficulties they encounter.

 

Disability to socialize with other people or conversational skills are not mental illness, but lack of experience. It is a skill that can be learned (and must be learned if someone needs it; it doesn't come out of nowhere). Of course one needs to want to learn it in the first place. Without the urge to learn, nothing can be learned.

 

I heard about the plans of WHO to put shy people on their list of mental illnesses, which perfectly shows how they approach any abnormal human behaviors. You know: more ill people = more $$$ from therapies :-P

 

Once I was very shy. I wouldn't say a word to a stranger, especially a girl. Because I didn't know what to say, and I was afraid of saying something stupid or inappropriate; I didn't want to scare her or seem weird. It took me a long time and a lot of practice and analyzing my own neural pathways to understand that there's nothing wrong with saying silly things, and that all these black scenarios were just my imagination which were far from reality. I had to learn, from practice, how to talk with girls and other strangers. And I succeeded, therefore I won't believe anymore that this is any mental illness or handicap; especially I don't believe that it's something one is born with. This is just a temporary lack of skill.

 

I don't understand the motives of other people. 

Me too. Especially when they act stupid. Am I autistic then?

The motives of other people are inside their own brains. So how can we possibly understand them without mind-reading? :-P We can only guess, from our experiences and from comparing their behaviors with our own. But if we don't have such experiences or we use different motives for such behaviors, then how can we interpret their behaviors correctly? The answer is: we can't. And this is, again, not any mental illness, but lack of experience and a matter of learning.

 

I don't understand non-literal language. I understand sarcasm, but if you were to ask me what "America is a melting pot" means, I'd have no clue.

Well, I wouldn't understand this one too.

This is a metaphor, and some metaphors require experience or better imagination or association skills. It also can be learned / practiced. Once I couldn't understand many such metaphors. But I figured out an exercise which helped me to understand it: It's a game of associations. You take two phrases which seem to not have anything in common, and then you try to associate them somehow, by making the connection and justifying it. For example, "He's not the brightest bulb in the box": what could it mean? Well, start from imagining the box of light bulbs. One of them is not as bright as others. Now try to associate this bulb somehow with the guy it's saying about: What could he have in common with that bulb? Well, the round shape of the bulb is quite similar to human head, which is also round. So what could it mean for a human to be bright (or not so bright)? Maybe it's about focusing our attention on him? (Bright objects focus attention more than dim ones.) Maybe, but there is one more thing which fits better, but is kind of tricky: It needs to make one more association along the way -- to know that "light" is often associated with "knowledge", because in ancient times (and languages) the same word has been used for both. We say "enlightenment", for example, to describe a process of acquiring understanding of some knowledge. Oppositely, we use to say "dark ages" for the period of time where people were supposedly not so smart. In darkness, you see less, you're unaware of many things which lurk in the shadows. That's why "bright" and "dark" are often used as synonyms for "smart" and "stupid". And this is it: The dim bulb, when used to describe a human, is to mean he's "not very smart".

 

There's one thing which is quite similar to metaphors, but which is not considered to be a mental illness if someone cannot do it, since there are many people who cannot do it (at first). This is called "synesthesia", and it is when you can associate a color with a sound (or some other cross-sensual comparisons). For example, one can say that some music is "very acidy" or "orange". How can a music be "orange"? It is not a sound, but a color! :-P And "acidy" is a taste, not a sound! But I tried this with many different people and with some time and practice I could teach them such cross-sensual associations, because everyone is predisposed to it (our brains work in this way since we're born), but everyone needs to discover it on his/her own and practice to be good at it. When I see a red color, it reminds me something sweet as strawberries or raspberries. And it has a tinkling sound, like a tiny brass bell. Orange is acidy, because it reminds me orange fruits, which are often acidy (sour). And its sound is similarly very buzzing and sharp. Light blue is a sound of wind blowing through a glass or ice crystals; very soft, but also very hissing and with lots of high harmonics. And it tastes like ice creams. I can associate colors with tastes and sounds, but this is nothing reserved for "special-talented people". Everyone can associate colors at least with temperature, calling some colors "hot" (from red to yellow), and others "cold" (from green to blue and violet). And it's all because our brains don't care what signals they analyze: they analyze them all in the same way, so the analysis techniques they use for different signals (sounds, tastes, feelings, colors, shapes, words) have much in common and share some patterns. It's only a matter of practice do discover them.

 

Some autistic savants can associate numbers with other senses and manipulate them in their imagination as different representations, easier to use, to make fast calculations mentally. Ever heard of Daniel Tammet? He is autistic and he has Asperger syndrome, but he's also savant. He can learn a new language in a week. He can recognize a number is prime by mere sight. He can do hard calculations in his head (like multiplying several-digit numbers, or telling the digits of square root of some number). And he is a world record-bearer for reciting 20000 digits of pi from memory. He says that he imagines numbers as shapes and colors, and manipulates them in that form in his imagination.

 

So is autism or Asperger syndrome something bad? Is it a mental illness?

I doubt it.

It can have some drawbacks, I agree, but it can also have some benefits. And if there's anyone who is laughing from autistic people, or if he thinks this is some handicap or a form of stupidity, then just show him a TV show called "Touch". It's about a boy who is autistic and he has a very special talent for numbers and patterns: he sees connections between different events and people over the whole world, to the point he's sometimes able to tell the future. He doesn't talk at all, but it's because he don't want to talk. He considers spoken language as evolutionary obsolete and primitive in comparison to the language of mathematics he uses on his daily basis. But it doesn't mean he doesn't communicate: he does, but he communicates with numbers. And his father learns to understand his messages to follow his clues and help other people in their lives. Here's a trailer of that show:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvQ_qJYZ-7A

 

My theory of mind isn't very good.

This is interesting, because I'm interested in the theory of mind, and how people learn about this theory. Yes, you heard that right: they learn. Again, this is something that is not innate, but a learned skill. When we're born, we know nothing about the theory of mind, until around 4 years old. And then something happens which makes us understand that other people have separate brains and they can know different things about the reality that we know. Also, from some reasons, there are some people who never mastered this knowledge. But is it a mental illness? I don't think so. If it would be, then we should have to be consequent and call "ill" the people who haven't mastered some other theories, like number theory, or gravitation theory, or quantum theory etc. If it's just that -- a theory -- then it can be learned and mastered. One more thing that convinces me so, is the case of Kanzi the chimpanzee, who not only learned to communicate with people, but also seems to have developed the theory of mind -- something which has been considered impossible for most scientists over the world. Why other monkeys have never mastered this skill? Maybe because they have been taught it wrong? Or maybe it's because the scientists overlooked some important details? Soo, maybe this very same detail is responsible for autism in people? Interesting topic to think about ;-)

 

I have a hard time putting my thoughts into words

Tell me about it... :-P

 

Languages are limited. There are many things which cannot be expressed with words. Moreover, many people use words of their own native language without ever understanding what they really mean, what's their history and origins, and how they relate to words in other languages. Did you know that the English word "guess" is related to a Polish word "głos" which means "voice"? (Different notation, but very similar pronounciation has led me to discover this.) Did you know that English "beyond" is a mixup of "be" and "yond" ("to be yond") which meant "to be far away"? Or that "born" is a past participle of "bear" which means "to carry"? There's also a lot of fluff-talk in modern languages, which doesn't carry any meaning. People are taught at schools that talking/writing more is better, because it seems more "intelligent" :-P But this is bullshit. Less is more. Using a language in a compact and meaningful way is a skill, and it also have to be learned (as everything).

 

Now tell me, and be honest. Are any of these things a reason to hate someone? Do you find any of these traits threatening in any way? Are you threatened by someone not being "normal?"

As for me, not at all.

I appreciate people from being the way they are, and I see their differences as advantages. Something that they can and I cannot (yet; though I could if I had any motivation to learn it).

 

What I want you to do is to stop treating the word "autistic" as an insult

Why do you need that? Because associating autism with something wrong touches you personally since you have autism too? But you know already that being autistic it's nothing wrong, right? So why bother? Everyone can tell whatever stupid thing comes to his mind, but you're not obliged to believe it or agree with it, right? ;-) So just tell them that you disagree with what they say and now it's their problem ;-) Know your value no matter what they say. You don't need to explain yourself or excuse yourself to anyone. When you know your value, no one can insult you.

 

And why do you think you have autism at all? Because some crackpot calling himself a psychiatrist told you that? Who's he to judge?

 

My sister had problems with reading and she was diagnosed something weird-called disorder (it was something like "cross-lateral disorder" or crap like that). I said they're crackpots and she just needs to read more. She listened to me and started to read fantasy fiction, like Tolkien or Sapkowski or Pratchett, and her reading skills have improved much. So, disorder-my-ass :-P

 

I cannot believe how these moron psychiatrists managed to convince so many people that they got some disorders, or better: that they're mentally sick because they cannot stand the noise of a vacuum cleaner or afraid needles. I too hate the friggin noise of this crappy machine and don't want anyone to break my outer surface, so what? I'm sick? Or they're sick calling people's normal behavior as ill? For me it's the people who cannot see the devastating disharmony around them anymore who are sick.

 

But these psychopats are also very clever: they often don't just say that people do something insane -- instead they tell them that they are insane. What's the difference? huge! Because when you do something, you can just stop doing it. But when you are such-and-such, this installs you a new personality, which you'll then subconsciously defend by your atavistic instinct as being a part of yourself. And I see many examples of that in action all over the Internet, when people are whining on YouTube or blogs about how much they are autistic or have Asperger syndrome, or other "mental illnesses", and how it's bad for them, and how people don't accept them. And when I tried to tell them that it's nothing wrong with them and their "strange behaviors" are just that: behaviors, maybe not very usual, but natural and perfectly OK, they yelled at me, defending their illness and calling me names! :-D Why do they want so badly to be called mentally ill from what they are naturally, and why are they trying to atavistically defend that belief? That's because they are told they are ill, and not just behave unusual. This applies not only to Aspergers, but many other "mental illnesses", such as ADHD etc., which were perfectly "normal" behaviors several years ago. People with Aspergers or autism are not freaks. But it's anyone's choice what to believe and whom.

 

Ever heard about the Rosenhan Experiment?

I have a friend who wanted to repeat this experiment with himself. He's perfectly normal, but when he went to the psychiatric hospital, they diagnosed him several mental illnesses and held him imprisoned in the hospital for a month, until his friends from the outside proved he's normal and took him out. That's how psychology & psychiatry works these days.

 

So, don't let these psychopaths (I mean psychiatrists) fool you! It's them who are ill.

[MrHaru 217]

Blame 4chan for all this bullshit. They've pretty much turned "autistic" into an insult on the internet, to the point that almost no one even knows what "autistic" even means anymore.

 

It's pretty much what Jadefire is saying right here. "Autistic" is just used as a buzzword to label people who are stupid and latch onto things they usually don't like. It hasn't spread much farther than just a few boards getting ridiculous about the overusage of the word but I -am- quite tired of hearing the word being used to describe fans of things in general.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

People love to make groups, especially to say that they are better than others. We were all created equal but we all have dfferent personalities. Kinda reminds me of the fan film Snowdrop, for she was looked down upon for she was a blind pegasus, yet she created the first ever snowflake. 

 

I believe that we are looked down upon for our disabilities. People fail to realize that within those disabilities are gifts that haven't been recognized. 

[DeiStar 248]

The word 'autistic' and 'autism' is used as a 4chan slang to describe social awkwardness situations (spaghetti) and people who do 'weird' stuff.

 

Commonly related to the people in this fandom who go spouting their 'love and tolerance' '20% cooler! xDD' 'brohoof!! /)' crap.

 

It's not used as an actual insult, but rather as a word to define a certain kind of people, at least in 4chan's vision. Just like the word 'hipster' or 'edgy'.

 

4chan will call you autistic if you do stuff like wearing pony shirts in public, or claiming that you love a pony in real life, or photoshopping yourself with ponies, etc.

 

And no, they're not jealous of actual autistics. That's a really stupid reason.

[Shanks 10,811]

If some idiot said that to me I would turn that ignorant statement right on its head and say

 

"yes as a matter of fact I do have Autism, the doctor told me I would never get an IQ past 50, and could turn into a vegetable at any time. But thanks to early intervention and years of therapies and a system of gradual mainstreaming I made the honor roll in middle school, graduated high school with a 3.8 GPA have taken some classes at my local community college and have sucessfully held down a job for 5 years, became one of the most well respected employees among my peers and received a promotion in less than a year. And am currently working on becoming an author to write about my experiences as an individual with Autism so that I can help myself by doing what I always wanted to do help others with Autism and so people will stop taking ignorant trolls like you seriously. Have a nice day."

Edited April 19, 2013 by EarthbendingProdigy

[Paianis 488]

The problem I have with all these labels is to me they're like some sort of excuse to any particular 'problem' with any particular person whether it be socially, mentally etc. Just because they have a 'condition' doesn't mean we should ignore it as if nothing should ever be done about it or mentioned in public. For example, I shouldn't have to respect people with ADHD if they are unable to respect me. Nuff' said. I know, I haven't put enough thought into this post but hopefully you'll see where I'm coming from, as someone with aspergers.