Poll 1 (your feelings on statements about autism)

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Are you happy to have people release statements and videos like this to speak for the mentality of all autistics?

Youtube link: /watch?v=teNYOifWiKA
[Mod. edit to fix YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teNYOifWiKA ]

“Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. ASD can be associated with intellectual disability, difficulties in motor coordination and attention and physical health issues such as sleep and gastrointestinal disturbances. Some persons with ASD excel in visual skills, music, math and art.”

“Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them. It is a spectrum condition, which means that, while all people with autism share certain difficulties, their condition will affect them in different ways. Some people with autism are able to live relatively independent lives but others may have accompanying learning disabilities and need a lifetime of specialist support. Asperger syndrome is a form of autism.”


Option A
I am autistic and I am happy that people are using statements and videos like this to help educate people about autism. They are, on the whole, accurate and sum up autistics very well.


Option B
I am autistic and I am not happy with people making statements like this about me and other autistic people, firstly the strong negativity makes it very hard for me to explain to people that I am autistic without them assuming that I am severely mentally ill. Also the people making the statements don't truly understand my neurology or what they are talking about and just seem to spew negative terms in order to raise money and support for their charity at the expense of a more accurate and balanced description of autism. (for example "some people with autism are able to live relatively independent lives" is incorrect and grossly misleading, to be truthful it should say "many autistics are able to live completely independent lives".)


Option C
I am not autistic but I think that it's fair for others to speak for autistic people and to describe their neurology in this way, non-autistics probably understand autism well if they study it and so if these statements come from a professional who has studied autism they are probably true


Option D
I am not autistic but I think that no one can speak for all autistics, even another autistic person as each autistic person is different, non-autistics can't truly understand autism and many seem to just throw random negative terms at it in an attempt to appear more knowledgable about the subject and to raise support for their cause at the expense of a less biased summary


Option E
I could not find an option which I could relate to and so have written my feelings down instead

I don't really have a problem with that description, however I have seen some descriptions that do bother me. It is a bit vauge though and does not explain everything so if someone really wanted to be educated on it they would have to probably do more research on their own.

"D", but with an autistic perspective, as I'm one of them. So I went for "E".

Strong B, expecially for this description.

As one who grew up thinking he was some kind of unique freak, I'm thrilled that AS has been identified, even if only relatively recently. Much, though not all, of the referenced description describes me. Imagine the alternative: going through life not knowing why you are so different. I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

As far as who wrote the description, it really doesn't matter whether they have AS or not. It only matters whether or not their description is accurate and valid. I say let's not poison the well.

I think it was presented fairly well in this particular video (what can you say in a minute anyway?), however, I've seen a lot of material which was nearly offensive and relied heavily on stereotypes. However, this kind of information is very needed and I appreciate awareness being spread. There is no away around it, NTs are rigid an they do require a stereotype. E

"I am autistic and I am happy that people are using statements and videos like this to help educate people about autism." part of A +
But I do not think that they are particularly accurate for this is a subtle issue, as most topics are when dealing with neurodiversity, also they could use some different wording and stress different points.

Wording is rather technical and general public, to which this is aimed to, could take it in a variety of ways if it was different. That's just how NTs are and I don't think that the outcome might nec. be what it is expected from how it's being done these days.

I guess I should mention that I was unable to watch the actual video, my opinion is based on those two paragraphs.

I fixed the link to the YouTube video, if anyone would like to view it and comment further.

Ok, I like the video a bit more than those two paragraphs, whatever they were from, but I'm still not completely in agreement with her, and I couldn't understand her too well, but what she said appeared to be very different than what the two paragraphs said. Where are the paragraphs from?

Redacted

Including the whole autistic spectrum in just one paragraph is impossible. Someone is going to get offended. Let NT's be as vague as they want. When they describe autism they are not talking about you because they don't know you. They are doing their best to include the whole spectrum but will always fall short.

There are videos? Oh crap.

Option A.

I don't have a problem with either of the italicised statements, nor with anyone who makes true statements regarding the spectrum.
If my individual case is different, I can and will speak for myself.
I have a problem if I state something about my brain/experience and someone tries to tell me that they know more about me than I do.

This is my own personal opinion on the matter



The mainstream social and cultural view of autism is largely dictated by organisations/charities which exist to help those autistics who are least independent, least able to speak for themselves, least in control of themselves and who need constant support from others. These charities are, in essence, a business; they can thrive or they can go under, they are dependent on support from the public, both financially, and in public opinion which in turn can provide more government support. Because these charities need support in this manner they need to sway the public to their cause, this is what causes the biased description of autism which is fed to the public; the organisations are not going to get public support if they display nothing but autistic people who are happy, thriving and very talented and intelligent for their autistic traits. Instead they display only the most negative side of autism, those autistics that are most pitiable and use a large number of negative terms when speaking about autism in order to convince the public that autism is a cause worth giving to. The problem with this of course is that now the most common view shared by this culture and society about autism is that it is a devastating mental illness which causes suffering to all those affected by it. This is not true however and I believe that a less biased and more balanced logical analysis of autism; including all relative negatives and positives, and examples of autistic people who are happy and even enviable to the average neurotypical for their talents and intelligence; needs to be adapted by all those who wish to speak about autism to educate the public about the real truth of autism and the variety and value of the autistic people that live amongst them.

I agree with Pensieve....you are not going to fit the whole spectrum in one or two paragraphs in a way that makes sense to the general public.
Sometimes you have to hit the high points and leave out most nitch-picking details. I think we should be grateful that there is some awareness about our condition at all instead of the way things were 50 years ago. I read an article that many times before autism awareness, those on the spectrum where diagnosed with schizophrenia and put in long term mental institutions.
We say that once you met a person with ASD, you only met one person with ASD. We cant all be included in a small article

A.

Jojo