Identity Politics Run Amok: Autism is a culture?

[LordZuko]

Whites realize the value in being considered a minority.

White women were the first to do this.

Now essentially if you gather two or three retards together they can declare themselves a culture and lobby for protection status.

It's not even a special or unique designation because everyone is autistic to some degree
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...rience-key-symptoms-just-varying-degrees.html

 

[mohamed]

Idc if u wanna be austisric I’m not gonna hold u back from it.

I definitely read that as the word ‘altruistic’ you got me.

 

[mohamed]

She literally said:

To cure us would be to stamp out our whole way of life, and this is NOT good medical practice or the like-it is genocide born of xenophobia-a fear of outsiders. In many ways we spectrumites are the ultimate outsiders, but that DOES NOT make our way of being less worthwhile. This is why I and most other adults on the spectrum are anti-cure.

She literally said curing autism is genocide.

Curing a fucking sickness is genocide.

A sickness is being equated to a race of people.

Am I the only nigga reading these words? Maybe we ought to consult some of the autistic folks that ram their heads against the walls or scream in fear if a stranger comes near them.

You can tell who has no experience with autistic people. That shit is no way to live. Unless you far on the spectrum most can't even function by themselves. What kind of life is that?

That’s what’s confusing me about her stance. As a person who works with autistic students, the ones who have recent breakthroughs with communication have expressed that they do feel imprisjned by their bodies which is the total opposite of what she’s saying.

Consign this. It’s sounds like she’s has an agenda

Whites realize the value in being considered a minority.

White women were the first to do this.

Now essentially if you gather two or three retards together they can declare themselves a culture and lobby for protection status.

It's not even a special or unique designation because everyone is autistic to some degree
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...rience-key-symptoms-just-varying-degrees.html

 

[Madame_CJSkywalker]

She literally said:

To cure us would be to stamp out our whole way of life, and this is NOT good medical practice or the like-it is genocide born of xenophobia-a fear of outsiders. In many ways we spectrumites are the ultimate outsiders, but that DOES NOT make our way of being less worthwhile. This is why I and most other adults on the spectrum are anti-cure.

She literally said curing autism is genocide.

Curing a fucking sickness is genocide.

A sickness is being equated to a race of people.

Am I the only nigga reading these words? Maybe we ought to consult some of the autistic folks that ram their heads against the walls or scream in fear if a stranger comes near them.

You can tell who has no experience with autistic people. That shit is no way to live. Unless you far on the spectrum most can't even function by themselves. What kind of life is that?

this disorder, like her race or nationality, will color the way she sees the world and the world treats regardless of how much she or anyone try to fight it...

it being a part of her identity is not so much a choice, but the acceptance of this fact

genocide was not the right word, think her concern is that now we are seeing this fear and stigmatization of autism causing parents to over medicate, treat their autistic children and or avoid giving children vaccinations they need

and like i said mental illness is a poor predictor of violence or criminality or even suicide opposed to things like income and gender. and she never says ppl should reject treatment or the recommendations of medical professionals so i'm just trying to figure out where is this outrage from you coming from

you also argued it is not healthy to let people with disorders choose their own treatment, but not everyone with a disorder has a guardian or someone there to make these decisions. so what is the alternative? not to mention the severity of autism varies. there are many adults who are living with autism and doing well for themselves who have had the freedom to choose what treatment available works best

most importantly if a treatment is not working and or causing a person to get ill or feel less present ...depending on the individual's history, they should have a say in what treatment they participate in or what medication is being pumped into their body

just not seeing the big deal

 

[Lefty_]

Let them live their lives as they see fit.

 

[LUClEN]

This isn't new thinking. I remember I made a thread about how people who are deaf or have dwarfism are choosing for their children to inherit those traits because they want to keep them within those "cultures" (lifestyle seems like a more reasonable term but that's a different conversation).

If anyone is interested I'm starting a special interest group for ugly people.

 

[semi-auto-mato]

this is not an argument. the person writing it doesn't have a good grasp of what culture means. a large part of culture is how we transfer information and learn. the author would have to identity some basic things language. i do not know of a autistic language. is there an autistic religion? any type of art or dance that we can attribute to autism? these are basic things that identify culture and until the author can identify those there is no discussion about autism being a culture.

there are different degrees of autism. Some people can function perfectly fine and others cannot even talk. if the author wants to argue a case then it should be about what types of autism should be considered a disability and what types should not. my son has asperger syndrome. he is a freshman in college and he functions perfectly fine. he can be awkward though. it is not a disability but it definitely is not his culture.

 

[deadeye]

Autism and gender dysphoria are just the beginning.

If we start telling people their mental and medical problems are valid and no cause for concern we create some dangerous ideas.

*We tell anorexics that its okay to be anorexic.

*We let people with body dymorphoria chop off perfect healthy limbs because they think something is wrong with

*We let people who have phantom pain believe their pain is real

*We let people with PTSD think their thoughts are normal.

*We let people with bipolar disorder act however they want because theres nothing wrong with them

There's no such thing as mental problems, we're all just "special" and "different" despite the fact that mental illness is highly correlated with violence, criminal behavior and suicide.

what? autism is not body dymorphoria linked to any violent or criminal behavior

it refers to a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication

they can't just take a pill or join a support group and they are all good....for many it's a life long struggle

and this is about embracing one's self despite the challenges and stigma that we associate with ppl with autism opposed to trying to conform and deny yourself the support you may need

considering she isn't advocating for violence or demeaning any one group or thing, she should be free to express her opinion, same as you....like with any other idea a winner will emerge from the competition of ideas in public discourse

this argument her thinking is dangerous is actually the real danger

None of the people I mention can just take a pill and be good. All that shit is a life long struggle. Nothing you said is relevant to the post.

I said mental illness is correlated with violence, criminal behavior, and suicide. That's a fact.

Autism is correlated with self mutilation, same as body dysmorphics (like anorexics for instance). Also several studies have shown that a lack of social understanding leads to autistics ending up in jail (Lerner, et al., 2012).

At the end of the day, autism is a disorder. A malfunction in the brain and in social behavior, it can and should be managed for the betterment of the patient and the society.

It's also not healthy to let people with disorders choose their own treatment, because many think like this chick "there's nothing wrong with me." Trusting the judgment of someone who is mentally ill and untreated is naive.

A correlation does not equal a causation. And u ever think a kid with autism could be more likely to act out if he or she bullied at school or feels isolated???? Maybe it could because they been made to feel like they were freaks

Because autism isn't normal. Also, I never said anything about causation. Every kid gets bullied, you can get bullied because you have bucked teeth or because you have cheap shoes. Neither of which is the same as having a debilitating social disorder.

My point with the its a life long struggle is to say the suggestion that having autism is as big a part of ones identity as there nationality or ethnicity isnt all that silly

Its ludicrous. You talking about an individual building their identity around a sickness, its almost as if you're the one making fun of them.

She actually encourages ppl to take steps to better their condition...dont recall her suggesting that should not take into consideration the recommendations of doctors and other trained professionals ...just don't jump from doctor to doctor and medication to medication chasing after a cure at the expense of the child...because there is none...

None of this was stated by anyone.

And this idea that a person with a mental disorder, illness should be the ward of the state and have no control over their own treatments regardless of the severity of their disorder or side effects? Smh....just wow

Again, none of this was stated. The govt wasn't even mentioned. The fact is, mentally ill people are not always aware of their illness or the severity of it. Thats just a fact.

Thinking a mentally ill person is a fucking doctor is ridiculous. They can only answer whether treatment is working or not. A professional needs to decide whether treatment is necessary, and what that treatment should be

Also mental illness is a poor predictor of violence, ranking well after these factors: youth, male gender, history of violence, or poverty. Aside from people who abuse substances, people with mental illness commit violent acts at the same rate as nonpatients, and 80 percent to 90 percent of people with mental illness never commit violent acts.

Never made the comment that mental illness is a predictor to crime. I said correlation. Looking at simple jail stats you can see that over 50% of inmates have some kind of mental illness or learning disability. And guess what? It's usually untreated. Y'know, people living their whole lives acting out and not knowing why and nobody gave a fuck enough to find out.

Like she said she focus should not be on achieving normalcy, but instead on learning to live happily and productively AS AUTISTICS

Fake news

Normalcy is impossible. Rejecting treatment and possible cures because its a threat to your political grandstanding is nonsense.

Most of this response is straw man fallacies and misrepresenting what i said.

Keep this up and I'm not going to keep reading all this shit.

@jono

Welcome to my world bruh.

 

[skpjr78]

Change the word autism to cancer and see how ridicoulous that bullshit sounds. Foh

CANCER is not a disease, a disorder, or something holding me prisoner in a shell. CANCER is a culture, a lifestyle, and a way of being. We don't try to cure people of being Chinese, because that is unethical and impossible. Nor do we refer to said people as "having Chinese tendencies," because that sounds stupid and we recognize that someone's nationality is part of WHO THEY ARE.

CANCER doesn't yet get the respect as a culture that it deserves. People don't realize that CANCER shades into personality and is crucial to us remaining who we truly are. Because CANCER was woefully under-identified in the past, we are a relatively new disability culture. 

The focus should not be on achieving normalcy, but instead on learning to live happily and productively AS CANCER PATIENTS. 

 

[Will Munny]

Well many people function perfectly fine with autism. There’s adults all over that fell through the cracks like me that are autistic as shit but never got a diagnosis.

 

[808HiLife808]

.....as soon as america gets "the good doctor"...this

 

[Plutarch]

Interesting discussion. Just heard about this girl with down syndrome. She's apparently a (special?) Olympics champion and model now. I'm an asshole, but her story was actually uplifting and interesting. Still kind of weird to me though, especially the modeling part. Thought it would be relevant:

 

[Max.]

I think i have autism but i cant be sure

Lmao

 

[deadeye]

Well many people function perfectly fine with autism. There’s adults all over that fell through the cracks like me that are autistic as shit but never got a diagnosis.

You've probably got Asperger's..........not autism.

'Thinking I might have it to, but I'm not gonna do anything about it.

Either that or I'm just crazy.

All the Up North niggas I come in contact with say I'm..........."7:30."

Something's definitely wrong with me, but...............

 

[mc317]

Still dont know what the fuck autism is bitch get off the spectrum. So its muthafuckas that daydreamed and didnt talk back in elementary school?

 

[LUClEN]

Autism and gender dysphoria are just the beginning.

If we start telling people their mental and medical problems are valid and no cause for concern we create some dangerous ideas.

*We tell anorexics that its okay to be anorexic.

*We let people with body dymorphoria chop off perfect healthy limbs because they think something is wrong with

*We let people who have phantom pain believe their pain is real

*We let people with PTSD think their thoughts are normal.

*We let people with bipolar disorder act however they want because theres nothing wrong with them

There's no such thing as mental problems, we're all just "special" and "different" despite the fact that mental illness is highly correlated with violence, criminal behavior and suicide.

The thing with mental illness, is people have a right to refuse treatment. Nobody can make you address whatever is ailing you, physically or otherwise, unless there's some legal reason for it (you've lost power of attorney, you are a risk to society, etc). People can get a diagnosis and do nothing about it and from a bioethics standpoint they can't make you address it. I say that to say, even if more professionals got on board with the gender dysphoria criticisms, there technically isn't anything they could do to force the issue or pressure people to use meds or anything

 

[jono]

Autism and gender dysphoria are just the beginning.

If we start telling people their mental and medical problems are valid and no cause for concern we create some dangerous ideas.

*We tell anorexics that its okay to be anorexic.

*We let people with body dymorphoria chop off perfect healthy limbs because they think something is wrong with

*We let people who have phantom pain believe their pain is real

*We let people with PTSD think their thoughts are normal.

*We let people with bipolar disorder act however they want because theres nothing wrong with them

There's no such thing as mental problems, we're all just "special" and "different" despite the fact that mental illness is highly correlated with violence, criminal behavior and suicide.

The thing with mental illness, is people have a right to refuse treatment. Nobody can make you address whatever is ailing you, physically or otherwise, unless there's some legal reason for it (you've lost power of attorney, you are a risk to society, etc). People can get a diagnosis and do nothing about it and from a bioethics standpoint they can't make you address it. I say that to say, even if more professionals got on board with the gender dysphoria criticisms, there technically isn't anything they could do to force the issue or pressure people to use meds or anything

That's all very true, which is incredibly sad.

 

[LUClEN]

Autism and gender dysphoria are just the beginning.

If we start telling people their mental and medical problems are valid and no cause for concern we create some dangerous ideas.

*We tell anorexics that its okay to be anorexic.

*We let people with body dymorphoria chop off perfect healthy limbs because they think something is wrong with

*We let people who have phantom pain believe their pain is real

*We let people with PTSD think their thoughts are normal.

*We let people with bipolar disorder act however they want because theres nothing wrong with them

There's no such thing as mental problems, we're all just "special" and "different" despite the fact that mental illness is highly correlated with violence, criminal behavior and suicide.

The thing with mental illness, is people have a right to refuse treatment. Nobody can make you address whatever is ailing you, physically or otherwise, unless there's some legal reason for it (you've lost power of attorney, you are a risk to society, etc). People can get a diagnosis and do nothing about it and from a bioethics standpoint they can't make you address it. I say that to say, even if more professionals got on board with the gender dysphoria criticisms, there technically isn't anything they could do to force the issue or pressure people to use meds or anything

That's all very true, which is incredibly sad.

In some ways, but it's a necessary evil sometimes. In order to preserve that freedom, we need limits on the power we give doctors. If we don't restrict that power we end up with situations where they can diagnose and lock up anyone they think fits the diagnostic criteria, or force people to get surgeries or other procedures that they do not want. Imagine if doctor's forced Bob to amputate his toe because it's for his own good? It would be a huge abuse of power.

 

[LordZuko]

There is political power to obtain by being considered a distinct group.

There is no political consideration given to those who are just white. Hence lgbt, disability groups, old folks, etc etc. It all started with white women successfully lobbying to get covered under civil rights legislation as distinct and marginalized class.

Basically white people have found a way to gain considerations under civil rights legislation while marginalizing the very people it was intended to serve--Black people.

 

[jono]

Autism and gender dysphoria are just the beginning.

If we start telling people their mental and medical problems are valid and no cause for concern we create some dangerous ideas.

*We tell anorexics that its okay to be anorexic.

*We let people with body dymorphoria chop off perfect healthy limbs because they think something is wrong with

*We let people who have phantom pain believe their pain is real

*We let people with PTSD think their thoughts are normal.

*We let people with bipolar disorder act however they want because theres nothing wrong with them

There's no such thing as mental problems, we're all just "special" and "different" despite the fact that mental illness is highly correlated with violence, criminal behavior and suicide.

The thing with mental illness, is people have a right to refuse treatment. Nobody can make you address whatever is ailing you, physically or otherwise, unless there's some legal reason for it (you've lost power of attorney, you are a risk to society, etc). People can get a diagnosis and do nothing about it and from a bioethics standpoint they can't make you address it. I say that to say, even if more professionals got on board with the gender dysphoria criticisms, there technically isn't anything they could do to force the issue or pressure people to use meds or anything

That's all very true, which is incredibly sad.

In some ways, but it's a necessary evil sometimes. In order to preserve that freedom, we need limits on the power we give doctors. If we don't restrict that power we end up with situations where they can diagnose and lock up anyone they think fits the diagnostic criteria, or force people to get surgeries or other procedures that they do not want. Imagine if doctor's forced Bob to amputate his toe because it's for his own good? It would be a huge abuse of power.

It's a damnable situation.

We don't want to create a society where people can be forcefully medicated or treated against their will, but I still don't think placating their illness is a positive thing.

That's dangerous.