Coin a word for discrimination of people on the spectrum!

Post Reply New Topic

Thank you Cornflake. My googling is casual. Your is methodical compared to mine. This is the sort of use I have seen:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WFWJ ... 22&f=false

As for what I mean by formal, we could start with a dictionary entry (specifically English) as probably the most formal recognition of widespread conventional use of a word. From there, literature about autism such as the reference in the book linked above are what I meant. I was looking for something beyond the informal use of the term on discussion forums for example.

Anyhow, I apologize again for distracting from the purpose of the thread, but you have helped me find the reference to "autist" that I knew I had seen! It was in fact Uta Frith's translation of Hans Asperger's original 'Autistic Psychopathy' in Childhood where I saw the use of "autist" referencing the Greek root as an explanation of the use of the term. Here it is in case anyone cares to see it:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HoRX ... 22&f=false

Anyhow, the best explanation I can come up with for why "autist" isn't used in any of the books or articles I've read about autism and Aspergers would be that "autist" implies the personification of the condition since it is the noun form where as "autistic" is an adjective used to describe a person who has the condition. It seems to me that nouns with the "ist" suffix on the end in English tend to describe someone engaged in a particular occupation or activity, or someone who is an adherent to certain ideas or beliefs. Some examples would be pianist, typist, pessimist, and racist.

http://scholar.google.com/

Type in Autist:

It is used throughout several publications (articles and books) as a descriptor.

It very well may be a cultural difference found primarily in the UK.


TheSunAlsoRises

This is one definition of Autist that struck me as ironic....

http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/vi ... 2autist%22

TheSunAlsoRises

I heard the word ableism already existed, but what about neuro-discrimination?

Ableism is a great word. The real problem is that I've never read or heard anyone in the media mention this word in relation to anti-ASD prejudice. It's most likely an academic thing at this point, just like deconstruction used to be. Maybe coming up with a "sexier" term will garner some attention. Here goes...

anti-Autitude

unautible / unaspible

NT-centric / neurotypical-centric

disrespectrumism, from the newly coined disrespectrum

or just plain old Smug Arrogant A-holes

We could use the term mentalism. Mentalism is the discrimination and oppression against someone because of a mental trait or condition they have, according to Wikipedia. Some examples Wikipedia gave are ADHD, bipolar, schizophrenia, and personality disorders. If we used the term ableism, it would indicate that we are disabled and unable. I would say that we are differently-abled instead. I'm an Aspie, so I'm thinking more in terms of high-functioning autism. Low-functioning autism could be considered more disabling, but I believe there are still some beneficial traits that come with it. High-functioning autism seems more like a personality disorder than a disability to me, though a lot of the problems that contribute to this instability are created by NTs. I'd use the term mentalism to describe the discrimination and oppression against anyone on the spectrum, just to be more generic.

Spectrumphobia

unorthodox-phobic

I think most NT`s are understanding enough when I tell them I have Asperger’s.

From what I can see most of the problems arise in misunderstanding’s when autistic adults do something that’s socially taboo or misinterpreted as potentially nefarious.

For example, the ID autistic man who stops to chat to children innocently, since talking to unknown children in the street is taboo for NT adults anyone seeing this would interpret this as potentially predatory.

The same for the autistic man who stares at the woman he`s attracted to on the bus not knowing of an appropriate way to talk to her. The woman`s first thought would naturally be is he going to rape me?

I believe member WhaleTuune used to speak of these paradoxes.

The problem is there is a potential double bluff since some, though small number of paedophiles and rapists have been autistic men and there is no neon sign saying autistic above our heads.

So is it realistic for NT`s to be expected to suspend thousands of years of in-built evolutionary self protections by ignoring red flags in the behaviour of strangers in the hope that it may be innocent?