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The Use of "Downs" and "Autism" As Insults: Post 2: Please Read

AvianWing·3/3/2015, 3:50:54 AM·10 votes·2,667 views

I saw that my first post about suicide due to Verbal Abuse over video games gained a bit of attention, both negative an positive. So I decided to continue my series on verbal abuse, with this second post. I understand you may not all agree with my writings, but if you disagree, please keep your Words kind and open ended for conversation, and please try to be respectful to all points of view. Thank you. Also, I will be opening a blog tomorrow with both this and my suicide post archived.

The Use of "Downs" and "Autism" as Insults What if it were you?

Every day, families are blessed with beautiful children. Mothers wait months to deliver their precious gift unto the world, and with it, she pours her heart and soul in to raising that child. However, in many cases, a child is diagnosed with Downs Syndrome or Autism, and these people are nothing to insult. They are still gifts, and they are mostly loved by their families. I personally know many families who have a child with learning disabilities. These children, or adults, are in no way stupid. They are unique and special. They may not have the same capabilities as others, but they are alive and they have life. It takes a strong family to raise a disabled child, and those families deserve credit. Now, if you know what a "savant" is, you know that normally these extraordinary people are often diagnosed with diseases such as Downs and Autism. So ehy should it be an insult? These are some of the smartest people of our time. I know my writings will not stop people from using these words in a hateful way. I know people will say I have Autism for writing this. And to all of you, thank you. Because that means that I'm special, and unique, to the point where I stand out from you. Remember that, next time someone says you have downs or autism. And if you're going to say that about someone, just know you aren't calling them stupid, you are calling them special.

[I may come back and edit this tomorrow when I'm not exhausted.]

31 Comments

Ice Weasel X3/3/2015, 3:57:27 AM11 votes

{quoted}

I understand you may not all agree with my writings, but if you disagree, please keep your opinions to yourself. Thank you.

That's not how discussion forums work. While I would say I'm more in agreement vs. verbal abuse, allowing opposing opinions is important to convincing people. If no opposition is allowed, an appeal comes across as very closed-minded. If you do post a blog, that can be as one-sided as you want it to be. Here, in an area for discussion, back-and-forth is the rule.

Poptart Evelynn3/3/2015, 4:59:33 AM7 votes

I am slightly autistic and I have a brother who is fully autistic. It doesn't bother me in the slightest when people use it as an insult. Because they don't really mean it as an insult to autism.

This is 2015 and peoples vocabulary suck so they lack expressive words for their meanings/feelings. If someone calls someone autistic. It just means they suck and it has nothing to do with autism in all honesty.

Take the word gay for instance. It's just a replacement word for lame and has nothing to do with homosexuality when used as a replacement term. "Wow that was gay." That comment has nothing to do with homosexuality. It's 2015, evolve and adapt you scrubs. If you take it offensively you are just being a dick on purpose.

"What if you were autistic." Sigh, don't speak for us, it's really ignorant to do so.

OhOkYea3/3/2015, 3:52:36 AM3 votes

You seem autistic

Raptamei3/3/2015, 5:37:35 PM3 votes

The more advanced our civilisation becomes, the more important the ability to obsess over a specific domain and the less important social skills will be (thanks to the internet). Within a few tens of years, aspergers may become an advantage.

Raja Chachki3/3/2015, 4:04:36 AM2 votes

Welp, too bad that a ton of the LoL community is full of assholes who will use those as insults, just as they will use gay, fag, cunt, and nig as insults. Just hope that someday these people will realize that what they're trying to convey with those words is not ok. But I fully agree, they are all people, they just think and look differently. Even monkeys are more advanced than us, they treat their mentally retarded as if they were gold.

Karfuss3/3/2015, 6:41:08 PM2 votes

I find there is a delicious irony when somebody uses autism as an insult. The person they're attempting to insult is probably inherently more intelligent than the insulter. It's a vain attempt to insult that becomes unintentional flattery, it's practically an admittance that the insulter isn't as bright, or just not bright at all.

Azurada3/3/2015, 9:09:50 PM2 votes

I'm 26 years of age and a high-functioning autistic. And sometimes it feels like i have more common sense than people trying to degrade others with these kinds of insults.

I literally can not think of how it's okay to sling those sorts of terms around as catch-all insults. I mean first it was ADD, then it was Asperger's, now autism and Down Syndrome. Do they think being specific with their insults makes them look clever? I think it makes them look foolish when they're far off the mark. But they think what they're doing is justified, so they dont see how stupid it is. Help me wrap my head around this.

disregardable3/3/2015, 4:24:20 AM2 votes

When someone loses a leg in a car crash, they aren't "special runners". They can't run. They can attach something to where their leg used to be to create something similar to running, but it's not running. When someone is diagnosed with autism, they aren't "special people". They can't process properly. They can learn all sorts of coping mechanisms to create something similar to processing properly, but it's not processing properly.

Should having a disability, whether it be a physical or mental one, be considered an insult? No, of course not. The reason for that is not that disabled people are special snowflakes, though. The reason is that it is unacceptable to refer to any person in a harmful fashion, whether that be "downie", "nigger", "homo", "chink" or "fatass".

gr8job3/3/2015, 9:25:15 PM1 votes

I just think it's a craptastic insult, like calling someone "gay." Um alright, is that supposed to be a bad thing? If I'm being stupid, just call me stupid.

Colgate Gator3/3/2015, 9:05:03 PM1 votes

Anyone who uses "Downs" "Autism" "Retard" and such as insults are clearly lacking empathy, so I doubt you can reach them with a logical approach, but by all means go for it.

On the other side of the coin, one should just mute and report them and keep playing, don't enter their game. If what some random person in the internet says really really distraughts you to the point of depression, probably the real problem doesn't lie there but on your own business, so I'd recommend getting that sorted out first.

TL;DR: Internet is cruel and it requires a thick skin, your best bet in this game is to mute and report.

CaptainTatertits3/3/2015, 4:53:23 AM1 votes

and loser is offensive to people with low win rates, unskilled is offensive to people who actually don't have skill, and "wtf? Mundo support?" is offensive to me.

Seriously people, you REALLY need to learn to desensitize yourself to all this shit. Grow the fuck up and get over it. Congratulations. Through bitching, whineing, moaning, and refusing to take responsibility for your bitchiness you have managed to get yourself so overly-sensitized to TEXT MESSAGES IN A GAME that your wittle feewings gots hurted :'( boofuckinghoo

Granted, it is never OK to insult people. Say something positive, or just don't say anything at all.

But be real people. Regardless of how unfortunate it is in general... it very much takes two to tango. For Racism (and other isms), it TAKES TWO TO TANGO. I'm white. If someone calls me a cracker, honkey, Chip, redneck, etc. You know what happens? Nothing. I do not let theose hateful words have power over me. They are words, just like any other.

I've learned that the people most offended by racist remarks (and other ism-based remarks) are those who are the most racist and hateful.

It isn't pretty, people. But it is the truth. Human nature is a bitch.

Commence the downvoting.

2000boxes3/3/2015, 3:59:31 AM1 votes

There is staying positive and staying ignorant this post is on the fine line between both

but then then i read the post a 2nd time and i read that last line again and again and realised this post is actually really positive and not ignorant

Velivolo3/4/2015, 10:02:27 PM1 votes

SweetTea, how can you NOT care about the significant population of friends and family? For many individuals with autism, family intervention and guidance is CRUCIAL. I wouldn't be the well-functioning adult I am today without all the help I had from my family, friends, therapists, etc. Each of those people was affected by my condition. My Mom still remembers (better than I do) what my condition was like when it was at its worst and knows how far I've come. If you were to use autism as an insult around her, I'm sure she'd be offended and would probably be upset.

{quoted} Autism and Down Syndrome, in non-extreme forms, are mostly social disorders afterall.

Now I'll have to ask you to please do your research- Down is by no means "mostly a social disorder" at any severity. There's nothing mild or "non-extreme" about a condition that is typically fatal in utero. That one extra chromosome may not sound like much, but it wreaks havoc on the health and well-being of people with down syndrome, leading to significantly shorter lives, almost guaranteeing early alzheimers, and raising their chances of many congenital defects and other genetic maladies.

[{quoted}](name=Postal Badger,realm=NA,application-id=cIfEodbz,discussion-id=EwnnEi0v,comment-id=0009,timestamp=2015-03-03T21:05:03.795+0000) On the other side of the coin, one should just mute and report them and keep playing, don't enter their game. If what some random person in the internet says really really distraughts you to the point of depression, probably the real problem doesn't lie there but on your own business, so I'd recommend getting that sorted out first.

The thing is, many people who say things like that don't realize they're being that hurtful or think it's just a joke or a game. I confront every instance I see of someone hurling autism as an insult, usually just saying something like "Using autism as an insult is really disrespectful and hurtful. Please don't." And I often get immediate apologies. As a community, we just need to show that we take these insults as seriously as things like racial slurs and they'll just evaporate. I'm not sure I've EVER seen a racial, sexist, or homophobic slur in game, and it's been a really long while since I've seen someone use autism as an insult. So no, the answer isn't to just mute people and ignore it, or get "thicker skin". The answer is to politely confront it and report it every time.