This is the most important election of my life because I'm autistic

Post Reply New Topic

There's a very strong possibility that the next president will also appoint our next supreme court justice, so it won't be 4-8 years of just Trump's vision, but an entire generation of a Trump/Pence appointee tipping the scales.

The next president will likely appoint multiple justices actually. It's pretty certain that the next one will be appointed by the winner of this election.

I, erm, misread an 'r' for an 'l' in that title and thought this thread would be about something rather different

Well yes, it's hardly surprising to me that the right-wing party doesn't want the disabled to have benefits, respect, rights, inclusion, etc. It's been axiomatic to me for some time that disability rights and left-wing politics are strongly associated. But I've not seen the disability issue so polarised before, as it is with the Trump thing. I'm lucky to live in the UK where we've even got a Conservative peer rooting for autistic folks.

Alex: This is why I and so many love you so much. You are indeed a worthy spokesperson for the autistic community. I know I speak for many when I say: You fill us with pride. Thank you!

Diamond: I don't think it's so much that they (right wing) doesn't WANT the disabled to have "etc." for the disabled as much as they don't consider people with disabilities to be important to their elections. This was something Alex shone a spotlight upon and is yet another reason the GOP needs a "checkup from the neck up", or more accurately, from the center of the chest, behind the sternum, a little to the left. They supposedly had one after Romney, a "postmortem" they called it, which made headlines, in big bold print that said: BE MORE INCLUSIVE. Clearly, the majority of the GOP has doubled down on exclusive, and so we have Trump. You don't get more EXCLUSIVE than Trump. If only more people woke up to that. Trump's never hidden that.

Fakename: (sarcastic)Really? That's not a very likely headline for an op-ed from Alex. It makes no sense. Besides, what exactly is a "Rife" anyway?

My $3.50:
As Alex touched upon, my hope for the Clinton campaign and (hopefully) the second Clinton presidency in regard to "people with disabilities" is that we cancel out the whole need for "PC" language to describe those with autism, those without hearing, or those whose cognitive abilities preclude them from feeling empathy with those who are different from them. I hope that we are no longer labeled as anything but "different but equal".

Like anyone, people with what we call "disabilities" by our current cultural/linguistic configuration, are different from other people in their own way. People who are NOT presently recognized as disabled but MAY be one day, like people who have an underdeveloped part of the brain that promotes empathy, are already familiar with the idea of people being different but equal. Whether it's "race" (another terrible misnomer), gender, height or hair color, most enlightened people are already capable of accepting people with those differences as their equals.

The need for "PC" language will disappear once true acceptance is the norm. Like comedian Amy Schumer said in an interview today, and as Simone Manuel said after winning an individual swimming medal, the first African-American woman to do so, we need to get to a point where Amy is not told "You're my favorite FEMALE comedian." and where Simone's skin color is no longer a newsworthy notation when describing her achievements.

We also need to get to where Alex, for example, can be introduced to a symposium simply as a "social entrepreneur" and speak from THAT aspect of his identity, not necessarily prefaced with "autistic social entrepreneur". Yes, there are situations where that introduction is appropriate, as when he's specifically talking about autism. But perhaps Alex would like to be asked to speak about his experiences as the creator of a social media site and all that such an endeavor entails.

In any situation in which a "different but equal" person may require some form of accommodation, that obviously calls for some attention focused on their difference, but socially speaking, when referring to them as a person, such a distinction should be RARE and only when specific to a question or relevant reason.

I'm not proposing a new "PC" term in "different but equal". I'm really proposing not to use any such labels. I'm proposing a new way of people interacting with and respecting differences without defining us by them. That's not "P.C.". That's etiquette. That's decency.


I know, I'm no Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but that's a nice dream too, and it is really part of King's as well.

Can I get an "amen"?

Hillary is an evil globalist, who takes money from Saudi terrorists to fund her campaign.

She also is suffering from seizures and vascular dementia. She is unfit to serve as President of the United States. Her husband, Bill is a cocaine abusing pedophile (See Jefferey Epstein's Lolita Express Jet).

I'm for Gary Johnson of the Libertarian party. However, he lacks the support that he needs to win.

My second choice is Donald Trump, and I'm behind him 100%.

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Obviously, there is no need to cheer one candidate over another, or resort to name-calling of either candidate when the facts that strike closest to home for Aspies and others on the Autistic Spectrum are so readily available.

You act like with the current election scores it is a possibility trump is going to be elected

I'm a #NeverTrump Republican (voted for Rubio in the primary), but this idea that being pro-disability rights mean you have to support bigger government (i.e. more spending, more regulation) and/or opposing bigger government means you are anti-disability rights is a fallacy.

We should be rejecting Trump because he is the manifestation of all the worst characteristics of neurotypicals!

Alex Plank for President 2020.

If Trump gets elected, I damn well hope he gets impeached.

Ted Cruz said it best.

Vote your conscience

Sadly I can not vote in the US election as I am not an american, to me I would vote for Mrs Clinton. She is the logical person to vote for, whatever her faults she would be far better than Trump.