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Has ‘autism’ become a term of abuse?
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Author:  paulzolo [ Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Has ‘autism’ become a term of abuse?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8345282.stm

Quote:
"I thought we'd got over that from the 1970s when people used to use the term 'spastic' in the playground," says Benet Middleton from the [National Autistic] society.

Well, if he thought that then he’s a bit of a flid. Or a Joey (ask your parents, kids). ;)

There is also a trend for “autism” to be a fashionable thing to have. Asperger’s seems to be one which is manageable, and if your kids can be diagnosed with that, then you can expect the school to bend over backwards to help. From what I have heard, there seems to be more and more autistic kids turning up in schools every year.
Author:  jonlumb [ Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Has ‘autism’ become a term of abuse?
I suspect another part of the problem is that there are a couple of well publicised cases of people with Asperger's having some phenomenal abilites, usually mathematical or memory based, which is also reinforced by those films on the subject. The main issue being that very few people with Asperger's are actually that gifted at all.
Author:  l3v1ck [ Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Has ‘autism’ become a term of abuse?
paulzolo wrote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8345282.stm

Quote:
"I thought we'd got over that from the 1970s when people used to use the term 'spastic' in the playground," says Benet Middleton from the [National Autistic] society.

Well, if he thought that then he’s a bit of a flid.
+1
That was still used in the 80's and 90's when I was at school.
Author:  JJW009 [ Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Has ‘autism’ become a term of abuse?
l3v1ck wrote:
That was still used in the 80's and 90's when I was at school.

Me too, in the 70s. I remember seeing Joey on Blue Peter which generally popularised such terms as insults.

These days, the more politically correct terms of abuse are "Special", "Differently able" and "Scope-head". As in "Are you a bit special? Are you differently abled? You f*cking scope-head - *thump* ".

I believe "You fat bastard" and "baldy tw@t" are still in common usage though, so not everything changes.
Author:  paulzolo [ Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Has ‘autism’ become a term of abuse?
JJW009 wrote:
l3v1ck wrote:
That was still used in the 80's and 90's when I was at school.

Me too, in the 70s. I remember seeing Joey on Blue Peter which generally popularised such terms as insults.


That was the Big BBC Backfire. They hoped that kids would see the heroism and admire him. No - they saw the dribbling, the spastic movements and the speech problems, and took those and crafted them into insults.

JJW009 wrote:
These days, the more politically correct terms of abuse are "Special", "Differently able" and "Scope-head". As in "Are you a bit special? Are you differently abled? You f*cking scope-head - *thump* ".


I remember when the Spastic Society changed its name to Scope thinking that it was a bit of a retreat and they should try to heroically reclaim the word “spastic” from the kids. I then learned that kids were using words like “scoper” in the same manner as they used the word “spastic”. Clearly they are fighting a losing battle here.

I’ve heard the word “special” used too. This word is used, you are probably aware, in education circles to describe certain children. These kids are “special” and have “special needs”. In reality, these kids are handicapped in some mental or physical way, and are lumped in with all the regular kids in the hope that they will adapt and improve. Some do. A lot don’t.

JJW009 wrote:
I believe "You fat bastard" and "baldy tw@t" are still in common usage though, so not everything changes.

You have probably named two Viz characters. If you haven’t, they should be.

Oh, no. Here’s Fat Bastard:
Image
Author:  JohnSheridan [ Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Has ‘autism’ become a term of abuse?
My nephew is autistic and goes to a special needs school.

He is in his teens and does not talk and you can tell he is autistic by the things he does - likes things in pairs and arranged "just so"

He recently suffered 2 fits - never has before - so we are all quite worried although he seems a happy soul - only in a world of his own.

If you have ever watched the film Mercury Rising then the kid on that plays autism very accurately - made me cry when i saw it.
Author:  finlay666 [ Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Has ‘autism’ become a term of abuse?
JohnSheridan wrote:
If you have ever watched the film Mercury Rising then the kid on that plays autism very accurately - made me cry when i saw it.


Yeah the kids acting was better than Bruce Willis in that film :)
Author:  l3v1ck [ Sun Nov 08, 2009 11:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Has ‘autism’ become a term of abuse?
Other school yard names that are still PC (though I've no idea if they're still used) are:
Dime Bar (because of the adverts at the time)
Spanner
Tool
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