"Autism" as a dirty word

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**This was actually my reply to my to my other thread "My AS son wants to know." I decided to create a new thread from my reply, since my explanation sort of went into a whole new topic. In case you didn't see my thread, my newly diagnosed AS son was asking about what jobs were good for AS people. Some people said they can do anything, and others listed specific jobs that AS people may persevere in. So how do you feel about labels?
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tnx for all the replies. let em clarify myself...i wasn't saying that just because my son has AS, he can only do certain jobs because of it. i was just asking what jobs people with AS seem to persevere in.

i also understand he is just 8, and of course his interests will change. same things happens for ALL kids. when i was 8 i wanted to be a dentist or a garbage truck driver lol

My son is just very curious. He often talks to me about his future as an "automotive engineer", and just wanted more examples of jobs people with AS are especially good at. He's very excited about prospective jobs, so I was just trying to come up with some specific examples. He's not good with vagueness..

Any yes, I know people with AS can do "anything" they want, but I also believe that there are some jobs out there that they would be especially good at.

I notice some people become very upset with labels. Everybody in this world is labeled.."homo", "white trash", "ret*d". These words are offensive, but wouldn't have their negative connotation if it weren't for people bringing negative energy to the word.

I think the fear of labels in the autism spectrum come when people are afraid to use them, in fear of it bringing some negative thoughts. Most people out there just associate "autistic people" with Rain Man, or perhaps the severely low functioning.

I don't see AS as a dirty word, and I'm not ashamed to use it if people ask me about my son. This is how we can inform the ignorant that autism comes in many faces and with those faces, comes many strengths.

Last edited by kattoo13 on 25 Feb 2008, 9:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

I am not ashamed of any word. I will use anything that others find distasteful, hurtful, and insulting, for my humor or the sake of being able to use the word. Do I use it against others? No, not inentionally (with malice). There is nothing behind any word that makes it hurtful, or powerful, or whatever. It makes it appear like superstition. We shouldn't create ineffibilities.

Certainly, we should use words that have negative connotations. Perhaps, then they might not be viewed with such misconceptions. How many times has one heard "I've never heard of that" or "I thought it meant something else." There is no exposure.

This is of course an ideal. I doubt it goes far.

Greetings to you...Please do not think for one second that autism is a dirty word. In my thoughts, I see this decade as the "Awakening of Autism". Not a week goes by that the news does not make mention of the autistic discussion. Some in the positive light, some in the negative shades, but there still so much of mentioned that there is finally made an awareness to it...When I was growing up in the 70's and 80's , the discussion was on Down Syndrome and anorexia..we have come a long way! We have rights now for children with disabilities, they are no longer put away in institutions and asylums like years past. Incredible breakthroughs have been accomplished by those with asperger's, Temple Grandin, Bill Gates, and countless others... Your child has a much better chance in life now that autism is being acknowledged and help is more readily available than it was for me, and I am 41 now. There is no limit to his potentials in life... Enjoy your day! Peace...

hello! oh no, i don't at all...that's why i posted this (see very bottom of my post where i say i don't see it as a dirty word.)

This thread is directed to those who do..

I'm pretty sure he understood that.

I think people shouldn't be afraid to state they're autistic or what have you. It'll root out the ignorance. I'll subdue my cynicism for now.

hello! oh no, i don't at all...that's why i posted this (see very bottom of my post where i say i don't see it as a dirty word.)

Greetings! I see that you do not view it as a dirty word, I typed before I got to the end of your message, my apologies... I cringe when I hear the "r" word, our daughter has autism with moderate learning disabilities, and I have heard that word for her, it breaks my heart...Yes, there are bad words used in referring to people, and it will always be like that, as long as their are shallow, ignorant people around...I wish this world was a much gentler place for us all. Enjoy your day! Oh, I also wanted to add that our daughter, 18, is enrolled in a 2-year vocational program , called CATS.It stands for 'culinart art and textiles services". She will learn how to work in a restaurant or hotel setting once she graduates, it will help her to get in the door of employment. Is there anything available for your son when he is of high school age? I bet he would flourish in vocational programs! Peace to you...

I'm pretty sure he understood that.

Rushfanatic is a she, a she..

My fault. If a gender is not established I usually go with masculine.

no problem i am assuming there are some programs, but don't know of any as of yet. there are a lot of autism advocate/help groups where we live (thank goodness).

i did find this school that teaches kids all along the spectrum, from elementary to high school. i'm sure they would have some info. for me once we get to that point. he's growing up so fast, i wish i could stop time! lol

Thank you for saying that, it is so very true. All words that are associated with people can be twisted into insults and forbidden words. To that, it only takes time, people to use the words and actions of few to enforce the new and insulting meaning into a whole society.

So actually, each time we accept that 'ret*d' or 'homo' is used as an insult, most of the time used totally out of context just with the intention to say something mean, we do take part in the process of discrimination. I think you're right on the other thing too. When we stop using AS in fear that it may be associated with autism and 'lower functioning people', we just do our part to ensure further discrimination.

In the short term, we may be lucky that we're not associated with something that is condemned bad, but in the long run, we do not fight discrimination but help it rule society. Today it's the others, tomorrow it's going to be yourself. Pretty horrible to think about it I think.

LOL

When I was about 6 years old, before parents day we were asked to draw what we wanted to be when we grew up to be posted on the class picture board. Much to my parents horror I had drawn a dustbin man!


One of my rock and roll heroes is a chap who was called Ian Drury, he had had polio as a child and was small having many physical problems throughout his life and did proclaim in one of his many hit songs: "I am Spasticus; Spasticus Autisticus!" as from the film Sparticus.

Labels can be many things, unless it says 'Explosive' or 'Poison' I don't take them too seriously

Last edited by iceb on 25 Feb 2008, 11:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sora, That was very well stated.....

I think the job of automotive engineer sounds great.

I homeschooled my oldest, NT son from 5th grade to 11th. One thing that homeschoolers are trying to revive is the concept of internship. My oldest was ONLY interested in drawing and art and playing Nintendo(trademark). He did need to learn other subjects, so one of the things I did was have him draw a picture of each lesson (marine biology etc) and he had to write a monthly letter to the magazine Nintendo Power until they published one of his letters. Seven months later they published one of his letters! When he was fourteen or fifteen, I went to the local print shop and talked to the owners for an hour about apprenticeship which they just could not seem to grasp and worried about liability and on and on. I said I would sign any agreement relieving them of liability and no, he is not to be paid, I had health insurance for him, and no, he is not to be paid, he is there to help you and learn what the business entails, and no, he is not to be paid so he should not cost you anything, and they finally agreed to let him in. He was there for a few hours a week for a year and learned a lot. Now he is a level designer for a video game company. He used to be the lead artist and bossed ten other artists in another company that was purchased and closed.

I homeschooled my aspie son all the way to college. He wanted to be programmer (we had done some simple programming while learning typing) and when he got old enough, I sent him to a digipen summer camp. He shone there and came back even more enthusiastic. I kept trying to get him to go to digipen as a full time student, but he did not want to go to such an expensive place and move so far from home, so he got a computer degree while living with us and graduated when the dot.com bubble burst and could find no work with computers for a year or two while he moved patients around in a hospital. Finally, he agreed to go to digipen, and like most of the students, he got a job long before he graduated from there. He is a programmer for a video game company.

It's the Rain Man thing that really gets me. (Sorry, too much Kinks music). Every time I tell people that I have AS, they ask me what it is, and they tell me that they haven't heard of it. When I tell them that it's a mild form of autism, they ask me if I'm like Rain Man. I feel like asking them, "Would I be working here, if I was like Rain Man?" or "Would I be getting around Langley, (my city), independently, if I was like Rain Man?" I feel like telling that person about all the different people and characters, who have many types of autism. Could you just hear me, now? "Bill Gates has AS, and he's famous for Microsoft. He's a Billionaire. Sid from 'Flushed Away' has AS, as well. He needs to wear Depends' for rats. Sue Ruben has full-blown autism. She was thought to be Mentally ret*d, until she scored 135 on an IQ test. She doesn't need to wear Depends'. Rain Man has a moderate case of autism. He's really good at math. Temple Gradin has HFA. She invented the Cattle Chute. I'm the most, like Sid." I bet that the ignorant person would probably want to shred me into pieces, by the time that I'm done, with my monologue.

Autism is not a dirty word. it is the "small minded people" who use it or abuse it.

Autism isn't even a cuss word so it doesn't belong in the dirty word category.