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alex
Developer
Joined: Jun 14, 2004
Age: 23
Posts: 6758
Location: DC Metro Area (No. VA)
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 Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 7:44 am Post subject: When Mr. Autism decides to visit |
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| Quote: | Slow. Dumb. Retard. Weird. Handicapped.
Many people have used these words to describe me. I, however, would like to introduce myself. My name is Autism Spectrum Disorder, but most people call me Autism.
You may have heard of me, but not my relatives: Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (P.D.D., N.O.S.), Asperger's Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder and Rett's Syndrome.
We are neurodevelopmental disorders that act as permanent visitors to the lives we touch by challenging the way children and adults communicate, behave and interact. According to the Geneva Centre for Autism, a service provider, currently one in 165 children is diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
I do not discriminate against any social class, ethnicity or faith. I do, however, have a preference for boys. In fact, four times more boys than girls are affected.
We can appear in the form of a young, Pakistani, Muslim girl named Aliyah or a young Filipino boy named Joshua. I am not sure how we came to be, but I do know that it is not the result of poor parenting. |
more: http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/407712
What do you think of this article? Is it offensive or do you think it's clever? |
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Litguy
Phoenix
Joined: Aug 18, 2005
Posts: 670
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 8:18 am Post subject: |
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I find it well written and factual, despite the ever present emphasis at the end on high achieving exceptions.
I assume that the one line "not anyone is supportive" was supposed to be "not everyone is supportive" although there are days when it feels like the former. :D |
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sartresue
Radical Aspergian
Joined: Dec 19, 2007
Posts: 5201
Location: The Castle of Shock and Awe-tism
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:49 am Post subject: When Mr. Autism decides to visit |
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Mr. Autism's neighbourhood topic
I agree with litguy. And this article is an in-your-face to people in denial. Shock and Awe approach. It is written for NTs. It reminds me of the articles on gay/lesbian teens that challenged parents to come out of the closet and face "Queer Nation."
Yes. We are Autism. We are here. We speak for ourselves.
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Radical Aspergian
Awe-Tistic Whirlwind
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Fred54
Raven
Joined: Feb 23, 2006
Age: 39
Posts: 107
Location: Montréal, QC
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:03 am Post subject: |
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I do not find it offensive and it is a good introduction to the subject, for NTs.
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nominalist
This WP Supporter climbed the pecking order ;-)
Joined: Jun 29, 2007
Age: 54
Posts: 1714
Location: The Kansas suburbs of Kansas City (originally from NYC)
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| Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:13 am Post subject: |
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It reads like a weird Mr. Rogers parody.
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Danielismyname
Ma said I'm special
Joined: Apr 03, 2007
Posts: 8856
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| Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:19 am Post subject: |
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| They forgot to mention his laser of death; that's what you have to watch out for. |
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dawndeleon
Phoenix
Joined: Jul 14, 2007
Age: 33
Posts: 741
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| Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:58 am Post subject: |
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| I like the way it is posed as a challenge. Many challenges are not impossible, they are just not going to come through easily. It gets those proactive bits of the mind working. |
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nory
Deinonychus
Joined: Feb 04, 2008
Age: 31
Posts: 379
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| Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 9:15 am Post subject: |
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| It's tacky, smug and condescending |
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Apuleyo
Pileated woodpecker
Joined: Mar 28, 2007
Age: 21
Posts: 194
Location: Argentina
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| Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:01 pm Post subject: |
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I don't really like it, but at least it sheds more positive light. Although, starting with such negativity doesn't help one bit.
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Averick
*ZER0*
Joined: Mar 06, 2007
Posts: 2844
Location: My tower upon the crag. Yes, mwahahaha!
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| Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Danielismyname wrote: | | They forgot to mention his laser of death; that's what you have to watch out for. |
LOL |
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blessedmom
Cynically Optimistic Daydreamer
Joined: Apr 10, 2007
Posts: 4350
Location: Western Canada
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| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 2:09 pm Post subject: |
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| dawndeleon wrote: | | I like the way it is posed as a challenge. Many challenges are not impossible, they are just not going to come through easily. It gets those proactive bits of the mind working. |
I agree with what dawndeleon has written. I also think it grabs the attention of the reader (especially NTs). |
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EvilKimEvil
zoo-music girl
Joined: Sep 27, 2007
Posts: 3041
Location: highway to hell
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| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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The style is too cutesy for my liking, but it succeeds in presenting a pretty accurate overview of ASD's in a concise manner. It confronts most of the common myths, misunderstandings, stereotypes, and questions about ASDs.
I find the tone to be patronizing, and I suspect that many would feel the same way. But (sadly?) I have found that a lot of people need to have information presented this way in order to understand and remember it. I know this sounds elitist, but it is simply an observation based on years of experience. Maybe it is because these people are used to learning from television, which presents tiny pieces of information very slowly, aurally and visually, in a heavily stylized manner. Who knows.
I think that for what it is, it is a good article, and it may help some people to be better informed. I don't find it offensive. |
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dkmnow
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Feb 25, 2008
Age: 45
Posts: 28
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| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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Meh.
Too mundane, at best. Without reading the whole thing, it strikes me as either condescending, or trying waaay too hard to be all clev-var n' stuff. Clearly written for n00bs and/or BY a n00b to the spectrum. The snippet posted here promises an unduly credulous tour of the stereotypes, without acknowledgment of their superficial and/or fallacious nature.
And I can just BET that the author does not even begin acknowledge that the REAL debilitating realities lie not in autism itself, but in how we are treated by society at large.
As for the "Mr. Autism" personification (which has been done to death), I am compelled to refer readers to a much more compelling piece by Cal Montgomery of Ragged Edge Online, called "Critic of the Dawn." It's a classic, must-read for any NT who ever hopes to understand how mainstream social perceptions and prejudices needlessly suffocate anyone who fails to "live up to" popular stereotypes -- or DOWN to them. In the piece, Montgomery creates her own personifications -- "my uncle Bruce" and "my sister Mary" -- to poignantly illustrate perceptions of "disability" and "ability," and what a rat's nest of untenable presumptions and consequences they create.
In fact, it's a thorough and powerful "unpacking" of what's expressed in a quote I recently encountered:
"The difference between high-functioning and low-functioning is that high-functioning means your deficits are ignored, and low-functioning means your assets are ignored." --Laura Tisoncik
"Critic of the Dawn" is the next step in understanding what that quote really means. I encourage everyone here to read it:
http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/0501/0501cov.htm
---
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http://dkmnow.wordpress.com/
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CockneyRebel
Mick Avory, ISFJ Sweet Pea
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Age: 35
Posts: 31319
Location: Somewhere between 1964 and 1984, on any given day.
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| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:47 pm Post subject: |
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No wonder I'm such a blokeish gal. 
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MysteryFan3
Ex-COBOL dinosaur. roar.
Joined: Jun 09, 2007
Age: 53
Posts: 1358
Location: Indiana
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| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:52 pm Post subject: |
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I like the Mr. Autism piece as an introduction for people. "Critic of the Dawn" is beautiful. Thanks to Alex and dkmnow for sharing these.
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