*jawdrop* Anti-abortion riots once more!

I refuse to play the game, but I've gleaned some choice quotes from somebody who did.

( If I didn't know better, I'd swear it was satire )

Stolen from moggymania

If you've never heard of autistics.org, this is probably not the best article to start with. For a bit of comparison, and easy navigation, I will also link to A Mother's Perspective and to The Misbehaviour of Behaviourists.

I try to take everything in context, so when I saw the autistics.org reply to A Mother's Letter, the first thing I did was I headed over there to read the letter. Then I re-read Michelle Dawson's essay on behaviourists. I have to say that I agree with autistic.org's take on the whole thing, so I'm putting my own rant response below. ( Read more... )

My earlier rant is spawning a subrant...

The mother in question whined mentioned that "every step towards normalcy is seen as a bad thing" (that's a paraphrase, not a quote, sorry about that!), probably because she doesn't understand why being normal isn't and shouldn't be a goal of its own. When responding, I translated it as "self-sufficiency" because I really didn't want to deal with that argument at the time, but now I've rested, so.

Why, exactly, should normalcy be seen as a goal? This is something I do not understand. Judging entirely by her letter, and assuming that she is 'normal', I can make these conclusions:

1. Normal people can't make logical arguments to save their life. That's why we have so very many names for logical fallacies.

2. Normal people interpret most things that disagree with them as a personal attack, which helps to explain why her idea of a rebuttal consisted entirely of a personal attack against the person who made the first argument.

3. Normal people are intolerant of differences, which is why normalcy is a goal. These same people often claim to love individualism and tolerance and diversity, so what we are to make of this, I don't know.

4. Normal people blame the victim. If your kid gets teased, it's his fault for being different.

5. Normal people have a great deal of trouble distinguishing between what was said and what they think was said. My mother is a good example of this....

And this is all what you want your kid to be? Oooooo-kaaaaayyyy...

Now, seriously. I don't think that this sort of behaviour is endemic to being 'normal'... plenty of NTs don't act like that, and plenty of autistics do. It happens. That's why lumping people into groups is generally seen as a bad idea. Snideness aside, though, her only argument towards 'normalcy is good' is that if her son were less 'quirky', he'd be teased less... so HE should change because people SHE knows are rude snots. This is what I really don't understand. Where does she get off equating healthy, harmless, but strange behaviour with a life-and-death situation? And why on earth does she think it's okay for people to tease her son so long as he's the one 'in the wrong'? How can he be the one in the wrong when they're the attackers?

I've been ranting a lot lately...

So right now, I'm going to try something new (!) and randomly compliment my friends. Obviously, not everyone is going to get mentioned, but that's just because, surprisingly, I have a damn lot of you.

gingembre Is, of course, the best big sister in the world. She's a gifted dancer, and can organize things like nobody's business. As far as parenting goes, both she and lizziey clearly love their kids a lot, and that's where I end the statement.

lizziey, incidentally, holds no grudges. This is an admirable quality that others could stand to emulate. Honestly, the crap I've said and done to her, and it's all forgotten. Luv ya, Liz.

xiggaroo knows, or should, what I think about her artistic talent. I won't go nuts and say she's the best ever, but I have gotten random compliments on her icons (more so than on anybody else's icons) and on the lookie she made for me on neopets. There's a reason I keep nagging her to look into FIT. Raw talent only goes so far. She also is one of the few people I know who is passionate about anything, though that passion seems to be towards her rats. Not a bad thing :)

aelunii also is very talented artisticly, and I can repeat most of what I just said about Xiggy about Jazzy.

wingedfigment is, I think, a potentially great writer. I'd skip the potentially, but that would tempt fate. Man, if I could write like that, I'd do it much more often than I do. Some of her recent journal entries, I actually sat there going "wow" for a few minutes after I read them.

squittycat is building a stargate. This deserves special mention, even if he is dragging his feet about it.

mhari has a good sense of humor, something sorely lacking in many people, and I trust her. Well, I trust a lot of people, but it usually takes longer.

If I skipped you, all it means is that I don't know you that well OR I don't know what to compliment you on off the top of my head. It doesn't mean anything about you, just head here to yell at me.