Semantics.

A while back I was kind of anonymously following the blog of a woman about my age with ASD. I found her style of writing fascinating- she was quite eloquent, but also a little bizarre. It was quite beautiful. One thing I found very interesting was her obsession with labels. The way she analyzed details of the categories she placed concepts in were unlike any other expression I had ever encountered. It was really cool.

Not really something I can relate to, you know. That is why it's so cool.

I think labels serve their purpose. I have never been ashamed of the very human propensity to over generalize. Stereotyping can have some unpleasant consequences, sure, but so can inefficient brain processing, you know what I am saying?

I guess I am just in awe of the aversion some people have to terms that at least describe a universal concept, even if people disagree with certain aspects of that concept. I mean does it really matter if I refer to my child as autistic or a child with autism? Call myself an autism mom or a mom with a child on the spectrum?

I mean. What could nobody get all pissed off about? "I have a child who is 2 years old and of the male gender. He fits the criteria of Autism Spectrum Disorder because he exibits the following symptoms: ..." Wow, that's a lot to say, when I want to point out that I relate to another mother whose children has symptoms that would qualify... oh, forget it!

On the other hand, when you look at something like the hot button issue of "recovery," people get all bent out of shape before considering its usage doesn't represent the meaning they had in mind. I think there are two different schools of thought when it comes to the Recovery-Exists crowd. I am sure there are people out there who really believe that true recovery is zero autism characteristics, no quirkiness, no odd person anymore. I mean. That could be true. But on the other side, there is the fact that autism, to this day, is diagnosed by examining behavior. Behavior can fairly easily be modified to at least SOME degree. Wylie has been in treatment for about 6 months now, and he seems like a different person. IS he a different person? I mean, probably not. But his behavior is more appropriate (and not by stupid society's superficial standards- he is able to communicate and relate more effectively, his eye contact helps him pick up on cues and pay attention... He has certainly moved on the ADOS scale towards less severe. It seems quite plausible that those on the milder end of the spectrum may have their behavior modified enough to move off the spectrum at least as far as meeting the diagnostic criteria.

I have to say, in light of all of this, I don't think NTs should go around bragging about their superiority in communication skills. Just Sayin'.