Insults specifically related to autism

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Lately, on another forum I visit (which is for the most part a general discussion site, though there's a big focus on all different subcultures), there's been a heavy amount of use of the words "sperg" and "sperglord" (as well as saying "That's so autistic" if they find something ridiculous). "Sperg" seems very offensive to me, as it's a contraction similar to "sped" which is pretty much accepted as a pejorative. These words seem to only have been created recently and exclusively used online, and I want to know other people's opinions on how offensive they are. They're heavily used on 4chan and Encyclopedia Dramatica, websites infamous for hating on minority groups in general, so they do seem quite insulting.

So... anyone else come across these words, "sperg" and "sperglord"? How do you feel about them? Are they insulting or harmless?

They're slurs.

im on two big teen forums and i have never seen "that's so autistic", "sperg" and "sperglord" posted.
It took me a few seconds to figure out that "sperg" was a-sperg-ers.
To be honest, it doesn't bug me. Ive always had a sense of humor about it.
Maybe someday I will do a standup comedy routine focusing on my adventures in autism.
i think prolly cause i spent the better part of my life so far in school with asd kids, i have a
different perspective because we made jokes about asd and each other all the time.

I think that sometimes people don't understand what a "slur" actually is. They reduce it down to individual things that individual people say to other individual people. The point of words like "sperg" and "sperglord" and "sped" is that they're used in a systematic, global fashion to define ways in which people are inferior and less worthy of humanity. They foster an environment in which these traits (being autistic in this case) is denigrated.

So it's not really important if an individual is offended or not, because it's not about offending individual people. It's about painting an entire group of people (that is, us) as inferior and mockable.

I agree. "Sperg" and "sperglord" definitely imply to me that the insulter considers the insultee to be a walking collection of all the worst stereotypes of autism: bad hygiene, awkward mannerisms, complete dependence on others, using their diagnosis as an excuse etc.

I've seen people use it in a self-deprecative manner sometimes, but mostly it's used to attack people whether they have autism or not. It seems to especially be used in particular fandom communities, especially the video game community, as an insult for anyone the person saying it doesn't like, which is just wrong as that suggests a view of autism as an undesirable thing.

I have seen the word sperg and it's never bothered me. It's always sounded funny to me just the way it sounds. Is sped a bad word too? I always thought it stood for people who are in special ed.

I really couldn't care less. I understand exactly what is meant. Just like I perfectly understand what people mean when they say "that's so ret*d", or for that matter "I'm so OCD about that" or "I'm so ADHD today". Of course, some react to them too I don't. I get the meaning and I use it like that myself. I don't find it unnatural to use such conditions to express it.
Some people just take things far too seriously. They're just fad expressions.

Hmm... well I have never been in spec ed, and I diagnosed in my 30's.
I've just never lacked a sense of humor about anything and I don't blow things out of proportion.

Last edited by Skilpadde on 17 Jan 2014, 4:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

Ive never heard that one either and im still in special ed.



Yeah im with you. ret*d and tard dont bother me either and there have been many kids
with mental retardation around me too. im kinda ret*d myself tbh with what they call
being "intellectually disabled".

Maybe we should start using "Sperg" as a synonym for "Aspie", and "Sperglord" as a synonym for a "really awesome Aspie". It would destroy the negative connotations that they've given to the words.

"Sperg"?

Oh, No! Another dirty word!

What shall we do? Whatever shall we do?




Stop worrying about it, perhaps ... ?

I've never heard the words "sperg" and "sperglord" before but they made me wince - they sound just like the brutal language of the playground I remember.

In my schooldays, "spastic" was a constantly used insult. The children's television programme "Blue Peter" attempted to raise the profile of cerebral palsy by featuring a man affected by it - Joey Deacon. Instantly kids across the country were calling one another Joeys. Epilepsy was also seen as hilarious. People affected by Thalidomide were "flids" and this was also a popular term of abuse. LGBT were... well, just wouldn't have been tolerated. There were hundreds of derogatory terms for gay men.

I still hear British comedians referring to some of the above terms (but they're probably doing it "ironically").

It will be rotten for young people with an ASD diagnosis if autism becomes a source of general ridicule like one of the groups above. Come to think of it, older people may at risk of being yelled at in the street (or worse).

I've no idea how you could go about stamping this out though.

Some people are just vile, aren't they?

I honestly would not have caught on to what "Sperg" was referring to if someone said it out loud.

I have never heard these words either. But the language is always changing and with the growth in autism awareness there were bound to be people somewhere who had to create a new name.

Never heard of those words before. I would've never known they were insults. I wouldn't react to it because that'll just make the word have more value. If people use it and don't get a reaction then it's not as much fun to use.

I never heard that, but in French calling someone autistic is often considered insulting in itself

I suppose these slurs can be insulting, since they are referring to us in a negative manner. But I wouldn't mind much if I were you, some of these sites exist for the sole purpose of insulting other people.