Oh how I love the ignorance...

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I was bored and decided to do some web browsing of Autism and whatever... so I cam across this:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 020AAjzSpd

I was absolutely disgusted by one particular comment that really shows how some NTs are dumber than a stick when it comes to autism and whatever:

Where do they GET this from? I mean another comment said that it was a mental illness. Is the media so bad with getting autism more awareness that its filling people's heads with LIES?! It's sick. This is the kind of thing that makes it harder for us to get any help because people always seem so uneducated.

I mean some of those people deserve good marks for knowing what it is but others... ugh.

I don't much pay attention to what others say about autism. Simply because it is not clear in the diversity of those with it and how it manifests exactly what it is. The symptoms are a spectrum but personally I am only worried about said symptoms which prevent quality of life and individual choices. The symptom of the mainstream perceptions however are good and bad. While disease I do not take personally the idea of mental illness I think evades quality of life by means of stereotype. The idea of cure i also do not find offence but a method by which in awareness they as in the mainstream could support research to improve certain symptoms which individuals consider hindering. An all encompassing cure for autism does not seem likely but cures for individual symptoms which prevent quality of life seem possible especially with how fast science and medical establishments progress and achieve.

You can't blame them. They're looking at the kids who are uncommunicative or worse. Its natural to want to cure them. The problem is everyone is currently getting lumped together.

Where did you get cure out of what I said? O.o I'm not talking about curing autism or those who think we need a cure. I'm talking about the ignorance and lack of knowledge out there about it... where people are tossing around the fact that its a disease when its not.

I do not think it is strange at all, even if people have an explanation that is pretty close they still would not fully understand why autistic people behave in the many ways they do. I myself dont even understand autism this is just being honest since 3 years im aware of having it and researching it online but still i dont understand it at all. Even researchers dont understand autism they constantly contradict each other with the findings they make.

So how is the general crowd supposed to understand it.

Totally missing it like your example is just plain bad, but i can understand how people can be narrow in their thinking about disorders.
I dont agree with it though but just accepted that its the way people are going to act.

Understanding the words that are used to explain autism is not the same as trully understanding it. So even if a person has verbal understanding of autism that sounds right they still do not understand.
I dont blame them, most people are not even aware in the slightest of how their own brain works then how can you expect them to understand others who are so different.

It also ticks me off sometimes when im confronted with ignorance about autism but the best thing is to just learn to ignore it i gues.

Under the law autism is a disability. Given the nature of the disability it is technically a disease and differs from a infectious disease or something like cancer. If you are not disabled by autism and it does not interfere with everyday function in a way that restricts your ability to be part of the world then you do not have a substantial disability. Under this premise the argument would be more valid that "your" autism is not a disease, disability, condition or anything of that nature. One must suspect why it is you wish to reclassify the image of autism in context of yourself but implied toward others as not a condition.

The right to dignity does not supersede the right to treatment nor treatment pursuits. For instance to receive services which are funded by government medical related dollars you must have a condition, disorder, disability that also is related to the disease conceptualism. If for sake of dignity it is a difference that manifests a need for services you may self-classify this but under the law is is of and related to the disease classification.

i try and try and try to tell people on this forum not to put so much stake in technical language.i also would want to point out if the n.t's did not say autism is a disease people would be mad that there suffering is being minimulized.people here will blame the n.t's no matter what they say

Disease is a matter of degree's. The same thing goes for poisoning what is poisoning and what isn't is a matter of how much you ingest and in what manner.

You need to learn that people who are low functioning on the spectrum give their caregivers huge problems which many are not equipped to deal with. It's one thing to focus on the principle of a thing and that's fine but try to understand the context in which these people are working.

Autism is a range and there are those for who it is a very very negative thing and we shouldn't say otherwise because it bars them from life experiences most other higher functioning people get to have in their lives.

Maybe she got it from the quote you were sharing with us. That quote did talk about autism being curable or not.

Last edited by Mysty on 27 May 2011, 7:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Umm diseases and mental conditions are not the same thing.....also say one is physically disabled because they where born without hands or something like that, would that be a disease? diseases and disabilities are not quite the same thing.

Not in the traditional sense of disease like an infectious disease. The original cause of hands being removed at birth is the disease of causation. Disease is a harsh word and to think of oneself as of a disease is emotionally burdensomeness but it is part of the disease model. The way I think of it is who cares if the people call it of or related to disease in concept at least they bother to try to help.

And what if a disease did not cause the birth defect....what if it was some sort of chemical the parent was exposed to? Also I have nothing against the word disease I just hate the incorrect use of words.......and I do not think mental conditions are diseases. But yeah in the context of the article mentioned in the original post its certainly not a disease:
"Some experts are suggesting that autism is not a disability, but a disease, like cancer, leukemia, or diabetes. This is a new way of thinking for medical researchers. Their reasoning is that autism has become an epidemic, with numbers continually increasing, and genetic "epidemics" do not exist. The good news is that if autism is a disease, potentially it can be treated, prevented, and even cured. Chromosomal disorders, on the other hand, are not curable. If autism is written indelibly into a person's DNA, we have to accept it as is, only working to improve the lives of those who have it. But if it isn't, we have an obligation to search for causes in the environment."

Autism is nothing like cancer, leukemia or diabetes.....that is not new way of thinking it is an incorrect way of thinking. I don't think autism is an 'epidemic' either I mean think about this how many people compared to the general population have autism? So yeah in that context it is not a disease.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disease

"2
: a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms"

Yes even so, it is not a disease like leukemia, cancer or diabetes. which is the wording I have an issue with.

Well obviously autism is autism and differs from cancer, diabetes and aids combined.

The PR of cure is just trying to get peoples attention so can they help.

and I think the medical definition of disease is what should be taken into account not just the most general definition that can be found.....but then I imagine someone who writes that autism is like leukemia, cancer and diabetes probably does not have much credibility in the medical world.