Autistic as an insult

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A Fine Gael senator who described the Taoiseach as "autistic" has withdrawn the remark and apologised.

Catherine Noone made the comments after the Taoiseach’s performance on last week’s Virgin Media debate while she was canvassing in Dublin.

Leo Varadkar defended his reaction to issues such as health and homelessness during the debate, denying that he lacked empathy. However, Ms Noone said he is "uncomfortable socially" and added: "He's autistic like, he's on the spectrum, there's no doubt about it."

Ms Noone issued a statement this morning apologising for her comments.

"I unequivocally apologise and withdraw all of my remarks, as reported by theTimes.ie, which were completely unacceptable," she said.

She said she will not be making any further comment.

When contacted initially about the quote, she denied that she used the word, but when told there was a recording she said she didn't mean it literally.

"I didn't mean it in the sense of the actual illness or anything. I just mean he can be a bit wooden and lacking in empathy," she told The Times, Ireland Edition.

She compared her use of the word 'autistic' to other words she claims are used out of context, such as 'special' and 'n***er', before clarifying she would never use the N-word.

Ms Ferris said she did not accept the apology issued by Ms Noone who should “fully educate herself what autism is.”

Autism is not an illness it is a condition, she explained. It was of great concern that a political representative thought it was acceptable to use the word as a descriptor.

Doing so was trying to justify the stereotype (of lacking empathy) of what it means to be autistic. This was a misconception as some people with autism were too empathetic and suffered great distress as a result.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the fact that Fine Gael Dublin Bay North election candidate Catherine Noone has apologised and withdrawn a remark about him being “autistic” is good enough.

“She has withdrawn her remarks and apologised and, you know, that’s good enough for me,” he told RTÉ in Galway where he was campaigning on Tuesday.

“Well, you know, it’s not about me. I just think that we all need to be very aware. I’m very respectful of people who have autism, people who are on the autism spectrum and we need to understand that those terms should never be used in a pejorative way at all.

Ms Noone, who is Minister for Climate Action Richard Bruton’s running mate, said she would not be making any further comment.

The autism awareness group AsIAm urged people not to engage in “doorstep diagnosis” of autism following her comments.

A former Tory minister has warned of the threat posed from a cyberattack by “autistic people” in a bizarre radio interview to promote his novel.

Sir Oliver Letwin, who lost the Conservative whip in September over his opposition to Brexit, appeared on Radio 4’s Today show to discuss his new book Apocalypse How?

The novel, which is set in 2037, imagines what would happen if a technology-dependent national infrastructure network collapsed due to an unforeseen crisis or technology attack.

“There are so many different ways that these networks could be attacked, either by nature as I picture … or a terrorist attack, or another country attacking us,” he told the BBC’s Justin Webb.

“Or in fact, just some autistic person or some strange youth sitting in some place in the world who’s connected to our network by the Internet [and] gets in and does something…”

Mr Webb, who did not challenge the former MP on his “ignorant” reference to people with autism, was met with criticism from Nicola Clark, a writer and disability campaigner

The BBC presenter replied saying he was sorry for not challenging the comment, which he did not believe was “malicious” at the time.

I hate it when people use it as an insult and describe any socially awkward behavior as "Autistic." These days, it's hard to tell when people are talking about the legit condition, and when they are just using it as an offhanded insult if it's not clear. It's a legit condition that affects us, and it's very invalidating when people do this.

We can bring up our traits and lightheartedly and jokingly call them "Autistics." And there is nothing wrong with having a sense of humor about ourselves. I have more of a problem with internet trolls, and people who know nothing about the condition using it as an insult.

I've been in some chats where people use it, and I don't want to say anything because I don't want to become a target, or seem like I just can't take a joke.