Psychology Today: Biased Asperger's Article!

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Yeah, he got his masters and PH.D. from the University of California Berkeley-- which is totally bizarre since they're considered a top notch institution and about the most liberal institution in the US, therefor most likely to be unprejudiced against minorities. Hell, a quarter of the anti-Vietnam protests in this country originated on that campus and the modern feminist movement in the US practically has a full time office there, and yet here's this moron espousing that most autistics are ret*d psychopaths that eat out of trashcans.


I know right, a supposed "expert" on career counseling with absolutely no answers in that area. Nice catch, I almost forgot the article was supposed to have a point, other than pissing off most of the autistic community.

Out of their @rses, apparently.

What he needs to understand is that it's not an assault, it's a criticism. The community isn't bashing him, they are criticizing the accuracy of his statements and whether they are most representative of realities of the ASD population. I understand their intent clearly: they are not out to get him or purposely trying to make him feel bad. I am fairly good at reading subtext (what isn't said/implied) and from his response, he is just taking this criticism very personally.

Because he feels hurt by some of these statements, he has responded by tone-policing this population and is suggesting that because people with ASD responded with (in his view) harsh criticism, that they are prone to harsh attacks and retaliation in the real world, and the public should be afraid of that. This point of view is incredibly ableist and just furthers the fearmongering stereotypes prevalent throughout the article, but type of thinking can be changed. However, if he truly wants to work with the ASD population, he should be open-minded enough to consider where they come from and why they are giving this type of response.

I've noticed that when others with ASD feel hurt by something, they say exactly what they feel. They don't try to mince their words with NT-style politeness, sucking-up and formalities. He was taken aback by the blunt, non-nonsense response of the ASD community because the people in it don't know how to respond any other way, and he was hurt by it. Behaviors like this are things he *must* understand and be cognizant of if he truly wants to work with this population. That's why he was surprised that people on the spectrum were not grateful or thanking him for the article...AHEM? That's a *social rule*, and people with ASD find it hard to internalize NT style social rules!! ! Do you THINK they are automatically going to respond in the most NT-like way to your article? Of course not! That doesn't mean he can discount or trivialize their viewpoints like in the way he did with his response.

That is why the ASD community is continuing to give him feedback, and he needs to understand that. I have spectrum traits but upon meeting people who were more firmly on the spectrum than myself who were blunt and often painfully honest, I forced myself to get used to it because I take *everything* personally and thought they were out to get me. It can be done. Yes, this man is not the best at understanding people on the spectrum, but everyone here needs to understand that this is NOT a bad thing: all he needs to do is learn. He needs to consider the feedback of the autistic community more in order to see where they are coming from in order to approve his approach. There are people who work with others on the spectrum and just fail to understand them, as someone who has been involved extensively in the field, I've met many people like this.

in all fairness, I read the story a couple times and read the comments a couple times as well. The comments that the guy is getting are way beyond what he deserves. I really think the guy meant well. I certainly don't think he meant to offend anyone. The guy was obviously hurt by the harshness of the comments. This might not be popular, but I don't give a crap I'm going to say it anyway- he is right in that employers reading that story and the comments might think twice about hiring people on the spectrum because most of the comments are way more harsh than the story warrants. The best thing to do would have been to calmly educate him on issues we face, but someone went off on him and it turned into a stampede with every body going at him. I find it really sad that this man no longer wants to touch the topic of disability.

I completely agree with this! Glad to see someone who shares my point of view.

However, as I said above, the community responded in the way they did because people with ASD do not automatically respond to things like this in a polite, agreeable, NT-like fashion, plus I have noticed that when others on the spectrum feel hurt and offended, they tend to tend to be even more blunt. If a bunch of NTs responded about an issue regarding them, I guarantee that his reaction would have been different.

He needs to accept that it's a struggle for this population to respond in a socially acceptable way. or some of these people, it is a struggle for them even to just communicate. This does not mean he should not take their thoughts into account or dismiss them entirely. He should stop taking this situation personally and try to see where the community comes from and try not to view this as an attack on him (which can be hard, but it can be done!).

Okay, then here's another data point for you: Top academic programs with distinction and no delay in graduation, teach at university level, have helped pull in nearly $3M in grants as a grantwriter in the last year; a single mother successful in getting her daughter into excellent programs and activities; homeowner, landlord, board member.

PsychologyToday is the US Magazine of psych, but really, this kind of superficial treatment helps no one. I'm actually glad to see the pile-on this time.

Shoot, we'd be better off getting social skills training and job skills training from Beavis and Butthead. What ya think

I don't know what you guys are talking about. AASCEND provides truly meaningful help for many people on the spectrum in the San Francisco Bay area. They are the real deal. These people actually create jobs for people on the spectrum. If Michael Bernick gave Marty Nemko a thumbs up that's good enough for me. Say what you want about him, but the fact is he's helped a lot of people.

I wish that there was more about assistance in helping Autistic people with self-employment and partnerships [ utilizing each others stengths, compensating for each others weak areas]

As far as going through garbage, I had no idea it was an Autistic thing. I do know that 30, 35 years ago, way before it was labelled 'dumpster diving," I used to go through dumpsters on a regular basis, with a friend of mine.

Before most grocery stores started donating to food banks, grocery store dumpsters were incredible. Even a person squeamish about eating fresh food from dumpsters could find TONS of dented cans. Paper back books and magazines we could get for free so long as we didn't mind the cover being torn off.

We found new clothing, hundreds[ thousands] of appliances. Avon decanter collections, furniture restoration kits, fabrics, television sets, furniture, a box with about 2,000 45 vinyls, complete with lists of top 50 hits for years, the original barbie doll in her black and white bathing suit, the "playboy' with Marilyn Monroe in it, stamp collections. about 20 working chainsaws, and pretty much anything you could think of.

It was fun. It was interesting. It was like a treasure hunt every day. We wound up with cool stuff for our friends and families, plus we had an ongoing garage sale every week-end. It was super profitable, and one of the most enjoyable things I have done in my life. If what I was doing was an "Autistic thing," then, that is one more reason that I am happy to be Autistic. Dumpster diving is a hoot.

I did too, when I was in elementary school. It was unbelievable how much cool stuff my elementary school got rid of. Things might be different now, but back then public schools had plenty of money. They would regularly upgrade pretty much everything, and the old stuff was just tossed in a dumpster, usually in perfect working condition. I mean, there were books. There were albums. Toys. Gym equipment. Etc. etc. one of the coolest things I found at the school was a bow. I immediately went to a sporting goods store and I bought some arrows. Now keep in mind I was like 10 years old at the time. Most of the people reading this are going to understand a time in America when a 10-year-old could just wander around the neighborhood with a real bow and arrows, then head down to the elementary school field and shoot said bow and arrows across the field. And nobody even batted an eye. Can you imagine someone shooting a bow at an elementary school today? There would be a SWAT team there in 5 minutes Ah the memories....

I think the basic problem with the article is that it doesn't do what it sets out to do. That is, it does not offer any practical suggestions to autistics looking for work. For example, it is suggested that we are detail oriented and good at repetitive tasks, but fails to recognize that doing such tasks with no intrinsic interest in them over a long period of time is unlikely, for me anyway. That was really the only practical suggestion I could find.
The article seems more than anything to be an exercise in mocking the poor hapless autistic.

That is brilliant and more along the lines of what I want to see in regards to the future for autistic people, instead of them being "othered" by people and having their opinions dismissed. I would also like them to realize their potential as people (as so many on the spectrum don't realize this) and realize that they are more than capable of contributing to society and to the lives of other people in meaningful ways. They just need the support of NT society as a whole to be understanding of their challenges so that they are accepted for their capabilities.

Reading the article I thought that he meant well, that was clueless as to our situation, that he approached the article from neuro mainstream point of view. Since he said he was quitting writing about disabilities I had come to be believe that we had made our point and he had recognized he taken on something that was more complicated then he thought. Because of that I believed it was time to stop, that anymore negative comments would be overkill.

Reading what he blogged in 2012 shows he just hates us.
http://martynemko.blogspot.co.uk/2012/0 ... s.html?m=1
Thanks to Paul Almond for bringing the above to Facebook

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 18 May 2014, 1:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

This. Autism should not be treated in the media as a nuisance or a pity party or treated like something hopeless. It should be solution-focused and should focus on ways people on the spectrum can be better integrated into society (through using self-advocacy, etc.).

It is possible that I misunderstood him and if I did then I will be the first to apologize. I've asked a person who has no stake in the autism debates whatsoever to obtain an objective opinion.

I don't care if his farts smell like apple pie or he sneezes out pure gold, he's endorsing a person that's stereotyping an entire group of people. Yes, autistics have issues that can affect their employment, but they also possess things that can be considered assets-- such as focus, attention to detail, ability to stay on task, etc. The fact that none of those qualities, nor any mention of successful autistics leads me to believe the author is either extremely biased or does shoddy research. Either way the end result is furthering the unfounded stereotype that autism is some form of mental retardation.

If Michael Bernick wants to stick by his endorsement so be it, but don't claim he's helping us-- let's say he personally finds employment for a thousand in the San Fran area, does that overwrite him furthering a stereotype that ensures tens of thousands of autistics elsewhere get discriminated against?
Seriously, back to my original analogy: Has a black person ever accidentally blown up a building? Check. Has a black person ever eaten out of a trashcan? Check. Has a black person ever had mental difficulties? Check. But, if we ever read an article that intimated that all black people have those problems we'd rightfully claim that article was racist because it would be an untrue stereotype. This is no different and by endorsing it Michael Bernick, however much he think's he's helping, is just making it harder for everyone on the spectrum.

As for employers reading the comments, well, disability is covered by the Americans with Disability Act of 1990 in the United States-- it's treated much the same way as racial discrimination, hence the reason I keep bringing up race. If they want to discriminate that's their prerogative, but they run a legal risk in doing so. Besides, would you want to work for someone who thinks you're mentally ret*d?