The really concerning thing for me is that I heard they're looking to make a register or list of people with autism. This is of course a very American tradition. At the Nuremberg trials, many of the accused were incredulous, like "What do you *mean* we've committed crimes against humanity? We were just doing what the US was doing to its native peoples, and their disabled people!" The good ol' US of A inspired and informed and provided the model for many of Hitler's worst policies - and now they're making a list of us.
Enforced conformity is the modern way, but (until we're eliminated altogether) we fulfil the vital role of enemy, of target for blame, of Other. Sharing that position with queer people, and unnatural and alien ethnicities and religions, of course, but one can never have too many people to hate and fear.
Thanks for writing this. My gut reaction is to completely agree with you, and yet...
The problem I have is that anyone capable of discussing it to begin with is so far removed from the very autistic member of my extended family that it seems like a non-sequitur. Perhaps that's a measure of how broad the spectrum of autism has become - too broad to be useful.
We need a different word for people for whom "autistic" means being non-verbal, unable to ever have a family of their own, and not only not being to live independently but not even being able to safely leave the house without supervision.
No prospective parent wants a life that circumscribed for their children; if a hypothetical vaccine became available to prevent it, of course they would want it. They wouldn't be human otherwise. That's why we have a vaccine for polio, even though being wheelchair-bound is far less disabling than autism can be.
I've read a thousand takes on this issue and yours is I think the best written.
I do wish autistic people had a "Ritalin" option to help us through a job interview or a wedding or a tough school year, while still remaining ourselves the majority of the time.
The really concerning thing for me is that I heard they're looking to make a register or list of people with autism. This is of course a very American tradition. At the Nuremberg trials, many of the accused were incredulous, like "What do you *mean* we've committed crimes against humanity? We were just doing what the US was doing to its native peoples, and their disabled people!" The good ol' US of A inspired and informed and provided the model for many of Hitler's worst policies - and now they're making a list of us.
Enforced conformity is the modern way, but (until we're eliminated altogether) we fulfil the vital role of enemy, of target for blame, of Other. Sharing that position with queer people, and unnatural and alien ethnicities and religions, of course, but one can never have too many people to hate and fear.
Thanks for writing this. My gut reaction is to completely agree with you, and yet...
The problem I have is that anyone capable of discussing it to begin with is so far removed from the very autistic member of my extended family that it seems like a non-sequitur. Perhaps that's a measure of how broad the spectrum of autism has become - too broad to be useful.
We need a different word for people for whom "autistic" means being non-verbal, unable to ever have a family of their own, and not only not being to live independently but not even being able to safely leave the house without supervision.
No prospective parent wants a life that circumscribed for their children; if a hypothetical vaccine became available to prevent it, of course they would want it. They wouldn't be human otherwise. That's why we have a vaccine for polio, even though being wheelchair-bound is far less disabling than autism can be.
I've read a thousand takes on this issue and yours is I think the best written.
I do wish autistic people had a "Ritalin" option to help us through a job interview or a wedding or a tough school year, while still remaining ourselves the majority of the time.