I was called an 'invalid' but don't know what it means?

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It keeps circling round and round in my head. I feel offended, but don't know what 'invalid' actually means. Basically, someone made a nasty statement claiming my family treat me like an invalid. That my autism is basically a product of me being treated as an invalid - but what does 'invalid' mean? Everyone tells me it's offensive but won't tell me why it's offensive.

An "invalid" is a physically injured, or sick, person who is perpetually bedridden. Cant move around, stays in the house (or hospital room), all of the time. Can be temporary, can be permanent.

A "total cripple" more or less.

Ah, so essentially he's basically saying that I'm being treated like dirt? Or undervalued because of my autism?

As naturalplastic says, it's a word that used to be used for anyone who was physically indisposed due to injury or illness, permanently or temporarily. "A person suffering from disablement or chronic ill health."

It used to be a normal, acceptable word a long time ago, merely a descriptive similar in meaning to any term for unwell people or sometimes even wheelchair bound people. People might have said "That area there is the invalid parking" the way they would today say "That area there is for disabled parking."

Our Physical Education teacher used to "joke" about the people with a sick note to dismiss them from gym class, saying "Invalids can read a book over here at the side."

I believe the word passed into being considered offensive in the same way as the word "ret*d" -- once used for the intellectually challenged as a mere descriptor, but now used so often as an insult that its meaning has lost all neutrality and is now offensive.

I would guess that the person who said you're being treated like an invalid meant that he thinks you're being treated like you're unwell, delicate, needing to be treated like someone who has an illness physically or otherwise, instead of a robust, active person who can take part in everything. Just my guess, as it used to be that an invalid was an unwell person who needed care, usually physical.

I knew what invalid means but I didn't know it was now offensive. It doesn't sound nearly as bad as calling someone "a cripple".

Everything is just too PC these days. Apparently you're not even supposed to call people "deaf" or "blind" but visually impaired or hearing impaired, respectively. But when someone drinks alcohol their driving is impaired, which almost makes it sounds like people who can't see or hear chose to be that way or it's their fault.

But when I was a little kid, I did think it was offensive to say jokingly to someone, "What's the matter, you deaf?" when they didn't answer something I just said, because they weren't deaf but there were people who really are.

I know what you mean, lostonearth35 -- sometimes I feel like it's hard to keep up with the latest regarding what's fallen into disfavor these days.

While some PC innovations are and were needed and the things people used to say really weren't acceptable, still there are other newly non-PC words and terms that make it feel like the PC thing can sometimes go a tad bit too far.

I've wondered if the "invalid" word for the unwell or injured became a "bad" one because it's so similar to, or even shares an origin with "in-VAL-id" meaning not valid?

I feel it's a bit odd that saying things like someone is blind or deaf is now not acceptable either. They are just descriptors and I'm not sure how it came to be that they are offensive. I get how the R word is offensive, but more and more words are being folded into this file...

It's hard to believe, but even "cripple" was long ago never thought to be offensive or any kind of put-down.