17 Jun 2010, 12:27 pm
Sparrowrose wrote:
Malachi_Rothschild wrote:
Another problem is that the word "aspie" may be stricken from the DSM in a couple of years. Insisting upon its use may lead others to assume that those who do so are ill informed. It doesn't matter that the label has been useful. Public perception is more important.
Using the word "aspie" can be considered divisive -- unless the person talking about "Aspie Pride" really ONLY wants to talk about people with asperger's and not the larger autistic community. I have witnessed discussions among autistic people online who do not have asperger's and who say they often find the use of the word "aspie" to go along with an elitist "us vs them" attitude that is detrimental to others with autism. Here's just one example - the first I picked out of google; there are a lot of people out there saying this sort of thing, though:
http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?p=611
So there's another obstacle to an "Aspie Pride Movement": how to do it without making other autistics feel like we aren't talking about them, too. That's why some people like the "Neurodiversity" label, but as Malachi_Rothschild points out, "neurodiversity" has too often come to be interpreted as "you don't want my child to get any help" due to the strong anti-cure sentiment among many in the neurodiversity movement. Some parents (exhibiting black-and-white thinking!) have equated "no cure" with "no therapy or treatment" and it's led to a lot of bickering that has held the neurodiversity movement back (in my opinion.)
But while "Autistic Pride" might be more inclusive, there are still some people who are happy to self-identify as "Aspie" but get nervous at the idea of self-identifying as "Autistic." So . . . this says to me that the "community" as a whole has a LOT more to work through internally before a strong cohesive identity can be projected externally.
Maybe it's just the part of me that likes to sort things for easy reference, but they should have some sort of "ASD level system" rather than just eliminate the term "Asperger's Syndrome" in favor of labeling people with varying severity of autism with the catch-all phrase "ASD." I tend to find myself agreeing with the "us VS them" mindset, though, because I've been treated like a distant outsider all of my life. I like the term "neurodiversity" because it is true - we ARE different from those considered "normal." Is it something to be proud of, though? In my case, I have very little in the way of social skills and thus have very few friends or anything resembling a social life. I don't like the fact that I lack the ability to socialize with other people - it's very lonely, to tell the truth. There is some trade-off for that, of course. I spend my massive amounts of alone-time pursuing my obsessions and learning new things via study and reading, etc. I'm not proud of my hermit-like existence, but if I had the sudden opportunity to change my brain into a normal one, I probably wouldn't.
I might be strange, odd, standoffish, rude and keep to myself 90% of the time, but I can't see myself being any other way at this point in my life. Is that a prideful thing? I don't know. Can't see sewing a flag up for it, Betsy Ross style, either. What would the logo be? I'm picturing a human brain MRI scan done up in four different views & colors like Warhol's "Marilyn."
This one sort of works already:
E333
17 Jun 2010, 1:04 pm
17 Jun 2010, 3:49 pm
