Why do people use autism as an insult??

[dannyboy6657]

I am a huge gamer and I have a lot of gaming pages liked on facebook and comic book things also and it seems if someone disagrees or something people will say stuff like "you need to be evaluated for autism" or they say "are you autistic?" just stuff like that. I usually tell myself they are uneducated idiots, yet it bothers me that they have to say stuff like that. I have plenty of friends, well actually pretty much 90% of my friends are on the spectrum, hell my brother is too. They happen to be some of the smartest and greatest guys I've met. Some are non verbal and have a higher IQ then the average joe, yet people decide to keep using us as an insult. Personally I really like my autism as I find it helps me see and do things in a completely different way. I also am so high on the spectrum now no one knows I have it unless I tell them I do. I guess what angers me about this is that these people believe that people with autism are basically idiots who can't do anything for themselves which I highly disagree with.

 

[Gritches]

What it boils down to is that they can, so they do. Nobody's going to come at them for using an autistic slur like what would happen if they used a racial slur. It's popular. It's in style. There are no consequences, yet they get to feel empowered to cover up the insecurities caused by their subconscious knowing what worthless pieces of human garbage and wastes of functioning organs they are. It might work in our favor in the future when/if neurodiversity becomes trendy, which might happen soon since gay pride seems to be slowly falling out of style for people who get their jollies by imposing their will upon others, so have hope, these kinds of slurs might become an advantage to us soon.

 

[clg114]

I am a huge gamer and I have a lot of gaming pages liked on facebook and comic book things also and it seems if someone disagrees or something people will say stuff like "you need to be evaluated for autism" or they say "are you autistic?" just stuff like that. I usually tell myself they are uneducated idiots, yet it bothers me that they have to say stuff like that. I have plenty of friends, well actually pretty much 90% of my friends are on the spectrum, hell my brother is too. They happen to be some of the smartest and greatest guys I've met. Some are non verbal and have a higher IQ then the average joe, yet people decide to keep using us as an insult. Personally I really like my autism as I find it helps me see and do things in a completely different way. I also am so high on the spectrum now no one knows I have it unless I tell them I do. I guess what angers me about this is that these people believe that people with autism are basically idiots who can't do anything for themselves which I highly disagree with.

You said that people who make fun of people on the spectrum are "uneducated idiots". You are right. They have no idea what autism is, but it is a in thing in their group to make fun of people on the spectrum. They have to do what everybody else does to be part of the group. Most of the people on the planet are like that and we have to put up with it. It is just the way it is.

 

[xDominiel]

we have to put up with it.

I'd rather we stand up for ourselves.

It is just the way it is.

The way things are can always change.

 

[Tyrantus1212]

Angers me too. I have Asperger's. When I was a kid in junior high some boys called me stupid for seemingly random reasons (yet others who weren't jerks called me smart, because I was actually smart). A bully in my very first computer course kept calling me stupid. I was understanding things literally, was often behind my classmates, was kind of a slow learner, kept failing tests - but all along I know I was smart, and still am. Somehow ended up with a B in that computer course, and I must add that the course did in fact help me become what I am today. I've been working in the software development field for more than five years now. The course was but an initial stepstool.

We are NOT stupid!!!!!!!! People who call us stupid - they're the stupid ones, and that only begins to describe such sub-human wretches, dregs of society, the scum of the Earth. Bad karma will get to them, trust me. Despite my self-esteem issues I just did not let those bullies get to me because I knew I wasn't stupid. My self-esteem was better when I was a kid, in fact - but it deteriorated over the years, long story.

 

[WildCat]

No better way to show a lack of creativity than to resort to "autism" as a (in)valid argument and/or insult. Personally, I'd rather be called a "faggot" or even a "cuck" - less innovative, but popular - but I understand that the bucket of go-to insults is limited, and that those using them are probably just as limited or, in rare cases, simply misguided.

You can model their brains pretty easily too: put a BB pellet or small object inside a tin-can or empty container, and voila! Just shake it each time you hear this nonsense as a reminder of what happens when you substitute your mouth for your brain. OK, I'm kidding about that, try not to let it pack a punch and ignore it then?

 

[LittleKnownBeat]

Fellow gamer here and I see it all the time too, especially the use of the word 'retard' followed by 'autistic'. I also recieve rude comments every now and then just for being a girl. The people that resort to this type of language are usually your common internet trolls. I know it can be incredibly difficult to ignore at times, but Gritches is right. They will continue to do this because they can. It is best not to let them control the outcome of the game/interaction and continue on. I play FPS and I always like to remind myself:
*Eff the haters - lock and load*
Basically, you do You!.

 

[dannyboy6657]

Thanks for the comments! Yea I am in the boat where I ignore it. I just really hate it cause my whole life growing up from grade 1 to 12 I was called a "retard" hell I don't even use that word, just writing it bothered me. I feel when they throw autistic and that word together it just really makes me angry. See growing up I didn't do good in school. I was alone through it all with no friends or help from the school. When I got to college though I began to get the best grades in every class I was in. I know it's because I got a life coach to help me but I learned from him the first few years how to study and stuff like that and was getting amazing marks. I went to my classes this year for resident care working and I did them on my own without my life coach and proved to myself that I can still get 90's on my own. Now I work in that field and I'm doing amazing. I don't see why people had to call me "retard" my whole life, jokes on them I guess most of them are still to high or drunk to know what day it is.

 

[ZebraAutismo]

Because people who are inclined too turn anything into an insult. For example spack, comes from the medical term spastic as in tight muscle. People will turn any thing into insult if they can.

 

[Southern Discomfort]

Because they're trying to be edgy and clever. These are people who don't know many sophisticated words so when they do learn one they have to use it like beating a dead horse.

 

[clg114]

I'd rather we stand up for ourselves.



The way things are can always change.

I was not suggesting that anyone should not stand up for them selves. Most of us are individuals, not one of the masses and as such speak for ourselves. Yes, things not only can change, but probably will. We are probably no more than 1% of the population. All that I am saying is that, for now, we just have to put up with the other 99%.

 

[Judge]

"Pack behavior" in humans. Where it's also a manifestation of predatory human nature to most likely disparage anything- or anyone out of the ordinary which few may sufficiently understand.

Especially when within the confines and security of a social group that serves to "insulate them" from similar attacks. A dynamic IMO which is more likely to put those of us on the spectrum at a disadvantage in comparison.

After all, so many of us are "on the outside looking in" when it comes to social groups in general. Because we don't necessarily bond like NTs we are that much more vulnerable.

 

[Bolletje]

I've been having a blast with people trying to insult me. When they ask me whether I'm autistic and I reply that I am indeed on the spectrum, they don't usually have a response.

 

[AustinFrom1995]

Because of the stereotypes that Auties are dumb/nerdy/socially inept/etc. it has become the latest "buzz word" when it comes to trollish insults. And I'm personally really freakin' sick of it.

-Austin