Here is what they are now:
Annoying. Evil. Retarded.
Evil? Evil?!
I'll tell you, that one still surprises me. I've seen it before --- seen "autistic" used as shorthand for some moral failing, usually selfishness or a lack of empathy --- but it still astonishes me to see that people apparently see us that way. I'm used to the "empty fortress" stereotypes, where people think we have no inner lives, no thoughts, no feelings, that our words and acts are just random spewage that we cannot possibly have intended, that cannot possibly be directed at any goal, anything we want. We can't want, remember?
That's the stereotype I grew up with. It's a depressing one, and still very much alive. You can see it underlying mainstream America's indifference to the abuse, neglect, and even murder of autistic children by their parents (or other caregivers). "Kids like that are hard to take care of," people will say, "it's no wonder she snapped," or "it's no wonder they weren't up to the job," or "What else were they supposed to do?" And the kids themselves, their deaths don't seem as tragic as the death of a normal child would be. Their lives were cut short, but what kind of a life would it have been, really? These people never grow up, they just get older. Forty years old, sitting in your parents' living room? That's no kind of a life at all. Isn't it almost for the best, to have spared them that?
(No, it's not for the best. In case you were wondering.)
But apparently there's a new stereotype coexisting with this one, that of the stone-cold killer. It cropped up in the coverage of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, and also of the one in Aurora, Colorado. People were asking, like they always do, who had done this, and how could they have done it? And one of the answers was, "It was a disturbed young man who may have been on the autism spectrum."
I don't know exactly when that autism stereotype started to take root in the public mind; it seems to have come up as people have started to be more aware that some autistic people can speak, go to school, attend mainstream classes, and do very well academically. When I was a child, this was not generally known, and people often expressed surprise that a child as articulate and precocious as I was could have autism.
Like Landon Bryce, I blame Simon Baron-Cohen's increasingly popular conception of autism for this development. I know that Professor Baron-Cohen does not think autistic people are evil, or even that we don't have feelings for other people, but the terminology he chose to use --- calling us poor "empathizers" --- conjures exactly that image in a reader's mind.
All head and no heart.
This, of course, is one of the reasons why I'm not mollified by seeing "smart" on the list as well: because I know that the Autistic Genius trope can blend seamlessly into the stone-cold killer. Both are unhindered by emotion or personal attachment, both can act with equal ruthlessness. The only difference is in what they do, how they direct their dispassionate efforts.
(The other reason is that smartness is often seen as a consolation prize: oh, you're autistic? You must be GREAT at math! What's that? You're not? Well, what good are you then?!)
So, what would I like people to know that autistic people are?
Human.
That's all.
16 comments:
"But apparently there's a new stereotype coexisting with this one, that of the stone-cold killer. It cropped up in the coverage of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, and also of the one in Aurora, Colorado. People were asking, like they always do, who had done this, and how could they have done it? And one of the answers was, "It was a disturbed young man who may have been on the autism spectrum.""
Another one of the answers was "poor guy was just misunderstood, he couldn't help it because of his autism/other mental problems/unpopularity..."
Ever noticed how this excuse gets used for murder and other cruelty by white men and (East) Asian guys (see Virginia Tech and http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/wayland/2013/02/mental_illness_runs_in_nathani.html ) so much more than for violence by black, Latino, (South) Asian, and Arab guys?
Yeah, I have noticed that, Anon.
It's like white guys (and apparently also East Asian, at least sometimes) are always understood to have a reason for their violence, while violence by men of other races just gets an "oh, well, you see how THEY are ..."
It's gross, and thank you for pointing it out. I neglected to mention that in my post, but you're absolutely right, there's a racial dimension to it too.
question are schizoids and psychopaths on the autism spectrum2?
@March 31 Anon - no.
neurotypicals are : wierd, stupid, irrational beasts, boring
(google)
Hi Lindsay,
:) come on, don't let Google hurt you! In a search I just did, I typed in "my husband" (in Italian), and it proposed strings like:
"my husband dresses like a woman", "my husband farts", and "my husband smokes pot"...
Yet I hope these are not the most common stereotypes of a husband that people have!
Hi, Malinka!
That's funny that those things came up for "my husband".
Probably they figure you wouldn't be Googling your husband if you didn't suspect something was wrong; I'm still kind of surprised that, say, "my husband is wonderful" didn't come up, given how many people blog about their wedding, or their happy marriages.
And I wasn't *really* hurt by seeing those search suggestions. I probably wouldn't have written this post at all if it wasn't part of a larger group effort, or if I didn't already know that there was a stereotype of the cold, unfeeling autistic person.
Thank you for trying to cheer me up with your comment though! I do appreciate it. :)
If some people think they are retarded or autistic beings from another planet, let them think. Unless you are planning to become the new or the new Messiah.
I think the ignorance of most people is irreversible, they are well and if you squeeze them to fit their emotional demands, sooner or later, they will react, like when you leave a human being without drinking water and leaves a full glass, mirrored in another room.
''Yeah, I have noticed that, Anon.
It's like white guys (and apparently also East Asian, at least sometimes) are always understood to have a reason for their violence, while violence by men of other races just gets an "oh, well, you see how THEY are ..."
It's gross, and thank you for pointing it out. I neglected to mention that in my post, but you're absolutely right, there's a racial dimension to it too.''
No, it's not certain. People say this because it is true. It's a bit complex to work with groups, but it is not so it's difficult. At most, the vast majority of people prefer to live in Tokyo than in Lagos and there must be some reason for this.
I realize that any advocacy of minorities (and'' minority'') tend to look the same approach of camaraderie artificial minority groups successful in the past, but this could not happen because each group has different aspects under the most various orders and tell you more, autistic and blacks are totally opposite in the spectrum of human behavior.
I think anyone should go to the trash is the arrogance of certain people.
Ok, let's see. You're a fat person, so when it appears a survey indicating bad things for the group (but says nothing about individuals) you make inferences demago-loaded deeply emotional. Spare me.
Neoteny think certain people should be kept in nurseries and not intellectually stimulating environments.
I assume that if there was a way to control people's emotions or what they think, you would immediately join.
You do not have to think, you have to accept when it makes sense.
@other Anon - first of all, what you're saying about black people is racist and factually wrong. They are not more violent or more criminal than white people --- they are arrested, convicted and jailed at higher rates, but not necessarily because they commit crimes at higher rates! See this old article by Van Jones, who is now mostly focused on environmentalism, but who started out his legal career tracking and fighting police brutality and unequal treatment of blacks and whites by police. There's also a book, The New Jim Crow, that I haven't read yet but would like to read, that argues that the War on Drugs is specifically targeting black Americans to stick them with the "felon" label for offenses that white people mostly get away with, so that, just like old times, the black people who do get caught up in this system can't vote, can't serve on juries, can't get benefits from the government should they need them, and can be legally discriminated against when they try to get jobs or housing.
Also, where do you see that most people would rather live in Tokyo than in Lagos, and could it have something to do with the relative instability of the Nigerian government compared to the Japanese government? And has it not occurred to you that Nigeria and Japan have very different histories, with one having many centuries of self-government and the other having only been independent for fifty years?
And your last statement ("[A]utistic and blacks are totally opposite in the spectrum of human behavior") makes no sense at all, not least because "autistic" and "black" are not mutually exclusive categories.
Whoops, forgot to link: here's the Van Jones article, and here's the website for The New Jim Crow.
And your second comment (I assume it's you, they are stylistically similar), with this: "I assume that if there was a way to control people's emotions or what they think, you would immediately join."
Nope!
Have you ever heard the phrase "fighting bad speech with more speech"? That's what I am doing in this post. As I understand it, the "Autistic People Are" campaign isn't asking Google to do anything, we're just flooding the Intertubes with our own writing, and hoping that it shows up on Google searches just because of its volume. We're not trying to censor anyone else's writing, just talking back to it with our own.
Why does everyone do this? Whenever you criticize something, someone always says, "oh, you want to ban [that thing]? But FREEDOM OF SPEECH!"
''Also, where do you see that most people would rather live in Tokyo than in Lagos, and could it have something to do with the relative instability of the Nigerian government compared to the Japanese government? And has it not occurred to you that Nigeria and Japan have very different histories, with one having many centuries of self-government and the other having only been independent for fifty years?''
Most people prefer to live in Tokyo because Asians exhibit a number of attractive features organics such as high intelligence and empathetic personality traits. They have a high iq, big brains (Asians, even the Indians Native Americans who are distant relatives of the first, also have large heads) and low indicators psychoticism. It is also expected to exhibit low levels of testosterone when compared with the European and blacks.
Sub-Saharan Africa has always been a region with few signs of civilization and when they are observed or were introduced by foreign cultural or otherwise took part in the throes of proto civilizations that failed to keep as few nations with elites fail to be smart because there no has a base also intelligent.
Contrary to what the books say, European colonialism was not this bogeyman that destroyed Africa, because there was little to be destroyed. I recommend that you update your knowledge, because sooner or later, will have to give you with these facts. Do not know if you've read them, now, then it is possible that there are Aspies unable to objectivism concrete.
I live in a multicultural nation like yours, with a large black population, and to tell you that I have the experience of living with many of them, that most blacks are not functional and many of them, unfortunately, are even worse than simply little functional, are dangerous and you like me, are easy targets.
I understand wanting to show kindness to fight for the weakest, but it is necessary to surround himself with all the possibilities and certainties (which only you can see) to go around risking.
Many aspies suffer great prejudice of blacks, moreover, blacks are among the most racist of all races. As I live with many of them also will say that yes there is a minority of them wonderful, better than many whites, and it is these that should be helped and protected. Bad people deserve to suffer for their misdeeds.
''And your last statement ("[A]utistic and blacks are totally opposite in the spectrum of human behavior") makes no sense at all, not least because "autistic" and "black" are not mutually exclusive categories. ''
Categories black and autism are not exclusive categories in a taxonomic sense, but this non-relationship seems to make sense to you that is pushing the advocation autistic (which I wholeheartedly support, and I, a person of the tribe weird) trying to group it in the group the'' oppressed''.
However, in a cognitive sense and behavioral, autistic and black are opposites within the human spectrum where the first goal is extremely introvert and attentive to detalhismos while the second is subjective, outgoing and totally inattentive to details.
Autism should not try to find support with the vast majority of these people (most I presume, 70-90%) because they will be exploited.
No, the simple fact use as arguments against the pseudo word created by the Frankfurt School (newspeak?) Shows that it is you who are wrong.
I'm Not Racist, definitely at me and believe that for large part of people, deep in their hearts, skin color, prognathism, nothing addition mind if all people were intelligent and kind with each other. But unfortunately there is a science called psychognomy.
You are using as an example the case of the U.S., but in Africa itself where black Africans are the majority of the population, there is more violence. Does the black Africans cops are racist too? It is to focus on blacks? (Being that they themselves are black?)
I said in the previous review, I live in a country where a good portion of the population is mulatto and I even have black ancestors. In other words, in the U.S. I would be considered black by the people, for hypodescent. I do not care if it is true that most of them are dysfunctional. The American police, many of them blacks, Asians and Hispanics, not blacks hold more racially, but for the sake of survival, to maintain order. In the vast majority of incarcerations in the U.S. occurs by just reasons, violence, disturbance of public order etc
In New York, where blacks are up to 20% of the population, more than half of crimes are committed by blacks. Most murders are committed by blacks of other blacks.
I do not know why I should be saying that to you.
''Nope!
Have you ever heard the phrase "fighting bad speech with more speech"? That's what I am doing in this post. As I understand it, the "Autistic People Are" campaign isn't asking Google to do anything, we're just flooding the Intertubes with our own writing, and hoping that it shows up on Google searches just because of its volume. We're not trying to censor anyone else's writing, just talking back to it with our own.
Why does everyone do this? Whenever you criticize something, someone always says, "oh, you want to ban [that thing]? But FREEDOM OF SPEECH!"
You are against freedom of expression?
People are in their divine right, as complex living things, to think and to express their thoughts. It is clear and evident that there is a fact, even if temporary (which can be toggled in the future) for various subjects.
I get nervous when I see someone mistreating a person unjustly. But in terms of thought, each has the right to say what you want, but if you want to be taken seriously, should prove or convince what you're saying.
Unfortunately, if I want to be heard, I need to listen. We live in a great daycare where nannies are dangerous psychopaths.
But the truth is not freedom of expression, is responsibility.
And I will not read this book because I've read Richard Lynn, Phillipe Rushton, Satoshi Kanazawa and his blue caps ... Read this silly pseudo science that told me it's like reading fairy tales. No connectivity with the objective reality.
Lindsay's whole entire point in her comment at August 7, 2013 at 4:37 PM is that she's *not* against freedom of expression.
Meanwhile, interesting how this other anon claims to be so objective and realistic while basing arguments on pseudoscience (like psychognomy), an incomplete set of facts that leave out some very relevant facts (such as the ones Jared Diamond covers in Guns, Germs and Steel), and nonsense grammar.
In the real world, many black people do have objectivity and pay attention to details!
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