Autism and retarded

[SL JediKnight]

Here's one thing that really makes me mad when people think that autism and retarded are the same and I know they're two completely different disabilities I do not know how many times I have to explain the difference to people another thing autism has become the new retarded like when people used to say that so retarded now they're saying that so autistic I don't like it and it's causing people to think autism is something that it ain't has anyone else had experiences with this how can I deal with people like this?

 

[Fino]

I've had a lot of experiences with this!

When I was a kid, like grade-school age, I used to get mad that people misunderstood the word "theory." When I got older, I got mad that people would use "bipolar" to describe things like the weather. When I got older, I got mad that people used the word "retarded," kinda like what you just did, because "retarded" is not a recognized disability. So I guess you just did the thing you don't like but with a different word!

But anyway, now I hear people using "autistic" to mean anything they find strange, and my solution to this is--and this is a solution I came up with before I started hearing "autistic" in this way--and that solution is to not care! Yay!

If someone seems open to the concept, I have occasionally explained to them what it actually meant and why it might not be great to use it in the way they were using it, but most of the time that would obviously not work or just make things worse so I don't bother.

But there are billions of people doing billions of stupid and offensive things all the time, so I don't worry too much if one of those stupid things happens to be near me. I just try not to add to those billions of stupid things and occasionally remove one of the stupid things from the universe.

 

[clg114]

While I do have autism, I am not disabled in any way. I do understand that this not the case for everyone on the spectrum. The point is, that just because your on the spectrum does not mean that you are automatically disabled.

Retarded is condition where your ignition timing has been moved a few degrees away from top dead center. That is the only way that I would use that word.

 

[SusanLR]

When I hear people use the word retard or retarded, I just usually think of them as ignorant
or the type of people who like throwing names around in a duragatory manner thinking it is
"smart" to make fun of people who are different.
I don't let it bother me too much except internally I just feel annoyed that some people think it is
cool to be cruel.

 

[Ezra]

I bet most who use autistic as slang, would get all embarrassed and apologize if someone said "hey my sibling is autistic".
Then next would probably come, "so what's that like?".

Personally I don't take slag too seriously. And words can have two or more meanings.

 

[LadyBird84]

Anyone who uses the word retarded is not someone I hang out with.

 

[Progster]

Yes, that's annoying, autism does not mean retarded, they are completely different things. It's not even necessarily a case of ignorance: people tend to talk in memes without stopping to think about what the meme actually means and what they are actually saying.

 

[Mattymatt]

Here's one thing that really makes me mad when people think that autism and retarded are the same and I know they're two completely different disabilities I do not know how many times I have to explain the difference to people another thing autism has become the new retarded like when people used to say that so retarded now they're saying that so autistic I don't like it and it's causing people to think autism is something that it ain't has anyone else had experiences with this how can I deal with people like this?

I absolutely hate the term retarded so I can completely understand that it makes you angry that some think Autism and mentally handicapped are one and the same. On the higher functioning side, Autistics can have well above average intelligence. The terms retarded, feeble-minded, and moron all date back to that pseudo-science called Eugenics. The fact that the term retarded is still in use today (albeit colloquially) really grinds my gears because it is just simple meanness.

 

[OkRad]

Yes, especially if you cannot speak at times. Very unfair. You can be going over Aristotle's Ethics in your head and someone begins to speak to you in one syllable sentences........GAD!!!! I hate it.

 

[Judge]

Unfortunately ignorance has no bounds.

If a person does not have a basic understanding of autism, it stands to reason that they probably have little to no understanding of mental retardation as well.

Small wonder so many can be quick to confuse the two. One tends to reflect intellectual deficits across a broad spectrum while the other may only have such considerations in a more compartmentalized manner, or even no intellectual deficits at all.

With a critical understanding that communication deficits do not translate into intellectual deficits. Though in the Neurotypical world, one is often superficially judged by how you do or don't communicate and interact with others. Often putting us at an immediate and unfair disadvantage.

 

[SL JediKnight]

Pretty much anyone that special needs or is in special ed gets the retarded label unfortunately