Re: BB: Vaccinations

It was 2 Sep 2008, when Matthew T. Russotto commented:

> In article <mejhb4psdekro9umbn1nd2kvbhcu5ohmjf@4ax.com>,
> Denny Wheeler <dennyw@zipcon.netREMOVETHIS> wrote:
> >On Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:14:37 GMT, Ken <kwar6996@bigpond.net.au> wrote:
> >
> >MTR:
> >
> >>>There's also the issue of the severity of the conditions. The
> >>>childhood diseases can kill and cripple, but they usually don't.
> >>>Autism screws up the kid's and the parents life forever.
> >
> >>As one on the autistic spectrum with a child also on the spectrum, I
> >>strongly object to that statement.
> >
> >I expected this. :) Had I got there first, I'd have pointed out that the
> >correct wording was "autism affects the kid and parents..."
>
> I'm not talking about autistic spectrum disorders. I'm talking about
> full-blown, all-out, full severity, autism. The kind that if you had it,
> you wouldn't be able to post here.

In other words, Kanner autism, as compared to Asperger autism. Roughly,
Low-functioning versus high-functioning Autism. As We have learned,
there's a whole spectrum of phenomena that can constitute Autism, hence
the modern term "Autism Spectrum Disorder." But you only want to speak of
the extremes of the extremes of even Kanner's version.

FWIW, many folks on the Spectrum find online communication much more
tolerable than face-to-face, and many on the Spectrum prefer it -- and you
might not be able to tell, if your only contact is online.

If you talked physics online with Stephen Hawking, not knowing who Stephen
Hawking was, how "crippled" do you think you'd think he was?

And many who have lived long enough to learn to cope to a certain extent
take offense at generalizations based on only some of the impact of some
people on the spectrum sometimes. Not all black people are good at
basketball, and not all (of us) on the Spectrum are utterly unable to
communicate.

Lots of us do just fine, thanks. Easy? Oh, hell no. Impossible?
Hardly. Takes time and effort -- in my case, 50 years thereof, and it
continues day to day.

There are agencies out there using "poster child" presentations of our
extremes as a mechanism for fundraising, and making plenty of money off
same. If you encountered something similar about some aspect of your own
life, and someone started repeating those statements, how would you feel?
What would you say, in your own defense?

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