Two quick articles

[conuly]

One, a post on LanguageLog on the metaphorical use of the terms autism and Asperger's. Well worth a read.

And another on a kid who had trouble being accepted into school because of (most likely) his diagnosis. Not cool.

Comments

[codeman38.livejournal.com]

I just posted a comment myself over at Language Log, pointing out that the whole "Internet Asperger's syndrome" is a failed metaphor on another count as well: Aspies tend to be the bullied, not the bullies...

[conuly]

Yes, that too.

[siderea]

Arg. That article on the use of the word "autism" was really intellectually dishonest; it buries a fact in a footnote something that changes the whole piece.

The fact is the word "autism" has a non-clinical meaning, same as "narcissism" does (indeed they mean very similar things, non-clinically). Taking it as a slight against people with Autism Disorder that people use the word "autism" to mean "self-involved" is like people with NPD objecting to "narcissisic" being used to mean "self-entitled".

In fact, it's backwards. The real question is why ASD activists, who have pointed out that self-preoccupation is not the underlying dynamic characteristic of the condition referred to as "autism", have not begun to wage war against the term "autism" as being a highly offensive presumptive description of their neurological atypicality. That is, the term "autism" means "selfish"/"self-involved"; why do those so labeled tolerate themselves to be called such?

There are epithets which are rehabilitatable. I don't think that's one. Finding a less negatively freighted term strikes me as an excellent pro-neurodiversity political project.

[conuly]

You know, I don't think that final footnote was there when I first posted this. I clicked all the other links at the end, but not the link there, and I don't recall it at all anyway.