Comments on: A Way of Describing/Explaining Autism

By: Ettina

Ettina — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:27:13 +0000

Marlla Sisley,
I think you missed the point. This is about how others perceive autism.
Also, autistic people often tend to dislike person first language. Though autism isn’t all of who we are, it is a part, probably a bigger part for many of us than for people with Down Syndrome. And many of us look ‘normal’, and are therefore assumed to be just like everyone else or to have a ‘normal person’ trapped inside autism, unlike Down Syndrome people who seem to me to look more different than they really are.
For all disabled people, the disability is *a part* of who we are. Not all, but not insignificant either. Different groups, because of having different experiences of stereotyping, tend to emphasize different aspects of our identities to fight that.

By: Marlla Sisley

Marlla Sisley — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:14:35 +0000

I didn’t finish listening/watching the video because as the parent of teenager with Down Syndrome and an educator who teaches others – primarily grade school students – about people with disabilities I am very disconcerted by the classification of people as Autistic people. or Autistics.
Language is defined as verbal communication. Verbal communication – what we say,
how we say it, and what we hear, affects how we perceive, and consequently treat others.
I am very bothered when anyone talks about people with disabilities as though they are a disability. Language is powerful and it shows intent.
When we define a person by his or her disability we are not only limiting our own perceptions of that person but also the perceptions of anyone who is listening to what we say. Person first language recognizes that people with disabilities have value and dignity, and it gives them the respect that they deserve as human beings.
Language is powerful and it shapes out sttitudes.
Until those of us who have disabilities and those of us who work with people have disabilities recognize the fact that a disability is only part of who a person is, society will continue to treat people with disabilities as second class citizens.

By: CassiwithHFA

CassiwithHFA — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:30:54 +0000

This is amazing… as my name says.. I have high functioning autism.. i am an adult with it and i use this video, ALOT, to explain to normal people exactly what it is, and how to understand it. thank you soooo much for this

By: miss nelson

miss nelson — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:50:14 +0000

I have added this to my blog as a link. You rock.. this is awesome! Really breaks down and gives a great analogy.

By: Mom to Max

Mom to Max — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 02:49:49 +0000

wow…what a great analogy. i have had the pleasure of hearing dave spicer speak at the autism conferences i have attended. i love your site here and would love to link to you. my youngest son is on the spectrum and i have multiple sclerosis. i have just started to construct a website of our adventures.

the address is: http://www.theautismexpress.com

i will definitely be back to read the rest of your blog.

By: annalaura brown

annalaura brown — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 13:21:51 +0000

I love this. When I was younger I didn’t know how to explain my disability. I was told it was a perception disability, a learning disability and a brain disorder. Only recently have I realized I actually have PDD NOS a form of mild autism.

By: Prairiegrandma

Prairiegrandma — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 16:32:39 +0000

I happened upon your blog while cleaning my email! My grandson has been diagnosed with autism and at age four, almost five, is having some tough times. Can you or have you talked about your early years and what things looked and felt like to you? I never want to hurt Kyle or any kid, but don’t know how to approach,support or communicate, especially since the family has moved away. Their autism support system is much stronger where they are, but I miss just cuddle times.
Your stone video is AWESOME. I would like to use it for a presentation at our church school to parents and family.May I have permission or what can I pay?
You clearly have such a clever mind and strong feelings about some of the things people say and do. You impress me as much as Dr. Grandin’s book about seeing what the cows do. Moreover, the more I read, the more I realize one of our daughters and even I have many traits on the spectrum. For “somewhat typical” (WHAT IS NORMAL?? and WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO BE NORMAL?) adults, is there any special help for us?

By: Autism Vox » Get Your Child Checked For It

Autism Vox » Get Your Child Checked For It — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 19:52:07 +0000

[…] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Related Posts: We Are HereNo Book for JeniferThe Vaccine-Autism Urban MythOnthe biomedical understanding of autism“An obviously deformed child….” […]

By: noah

noah — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 11:25:40 +0000

First, this video rocks. Ha.
Second, I am not the Noah above. I am the one from before.
Third, responding to your next post, it sounds like you might want to wrap your blue inhaler in a cloth or napkin so you remember it is not the same as your red one.

By: andreashettle

andreashettle — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:32:09 +0000

“It’s like, because I’m autistic, every atypicality in me (whether positive or negative) gets explained as “part of autism”, when that isn’t the case.”

This overgeneralization problem is not even limited to how people perceive disabilities or diagnostic labels. When people find out that I’m vegan, for example, they sometimes have a tendency to assume that EVERY food choice I make is necessarily related to veganism. So if I pick the onions out of my food or something, they might look at me with perplexity and ask, “But why aren’t onions vegan?” (Er. They ARE. I just don’t like them much.)

But I do think that it is far more common to disabilities (and diagnostic labels, and sometimes sexual orientation, and I imagine also race). It’s like whatever characteristic a person has that makes them appear “different” is sort of magnified in the eyes of hearing, non-autistic, non-disabled people (especially heterosexual white people) that it sort of overshadows everything else until the person can’t even imagine a real personality behind that characteristic with all the usual variations that anyone else might have. Sometimes it can even be dangerous. I have heard stories where people with, say, some sort of mobility impairment go to the hospital to find out why they’re feeling sick, but instead of listening to what symptoms they ARE experiencing, they start asking all sorts of irrelevant questions about their mobility impairment … as if that had anything to do with why they are suddenly feeling feverish or sick. (This is especially a problem in many developing countries, but I think sometimes even in rich countries.)

Maybe this over-generalization is a mental crutch used by non-disabled non-autistic people because they lack sufficient theory of mind or something? :-P