Autism as a metaphor for--you name it

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This article gives much to think about.

...what article?

Click on the words "this article".

Yeah, made me think the author pulled this article out of his butt. How does cyber bullying fit in with the Aspies sense of fair play? The Aspie characteristic of detachment is being equated with active intolerance of others. Doesn't add up for me. Pissed me off.

I dont want to touch this with a 40 foot pole.

I'm not spoiling for a fight either-just a personal reaction.

There aren't any parts of my brain that are broken. They just work differently. It seems like the person who wrote this has too much time on their hands.

the comment I posted:

Asperger’s Syndrome: Possibly less empathetic, but still compassionate

[Re: So along with the extended or figurative use of Asperger's Syndrome to mean something like "rude and cruel", we seem to be seeing an extended sense of autistic to mean "excessively rational".]

A group of people with asperger’s syndrome would be predicted to display less developed ToM (theory of mind) than a group of typically developing peers. ToM is the theoretical scaffolding that supports the experience empathy*. However, people with asperger’s syndrome are not devoid of ToM, and some aspies may have well developed ToM – we are a diverse lot. Compassion** is not correlated with ToM, and occurs widely amoung asperger’s syndrome.

I do question both the empathy and compassion of Mark Liberman, Jason Calacanis, and others who condone the terms, “"Internet Asperger's Syndrome" and "Autistic Economics". The behaviors described in this article are those that have been used against us on the playground and frequently continue in our work places. It is akin to using disgusting terms such as, “that’s white of you’” “nigger-rig.” And to jew [somebody].” It is insulting and inappropriate.

In composing this article, the author and his supporters demonstrated neither deep sympathy for people with asperger’s syndrome nor did they vicariously experience our thoughts, feelings, or attitudes.

*Empathy – “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering (Dictionary.com).”

**Compassion – “the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another (Dictionary.com).”

You seem to have missed his entire point, to summerise: "The word autism is being used in places where it is not accurate". He specifically said that people comparing cyber bullying to autism* were misusing the word autism and that its a bad comparison.

The link between cyber bullying and the economics / fair play was non-existent by the authors own admission: the article was about how the word autism was being misused, cyber bullies and economics are two separate and unrelated misuses.

Overall I thought it was a nice article, although I expected it to build up to an interesting conclusion, its entirely my fault for not reading the tile and realigning it wasn't really in my area of interests.

* The comparison may originate with cyber bullies who think asperger's is a nice excuse for their personality defects.

oops I have a problem with hyperlexia and I often miss a critical detail. So, I agree with the author instead.

That article was very, very stupid.

Happens to me too

The article was very, very intelligent.

A pity so many people (including me) failed to read it.

*Cue 40 or so people on wp getting found out to just be shut-in kids, and so not responding*

neuro typicals are being misdiagnosed

'K....So what's the plot?

Noted some of the verbal puns though (ie: 'stemming from,' which is associatational w/ STIMMING). Not too coherent in writing content though. Sort-of like watching a James Bond movie; fun, but doesn't mean much.