No, this thread isn't about Yahtzee hating on web comics.
Okay, I distinctly remember Yahtzee saying in a video "It's like the game has Asperger's syndrome" and the game being distracted by a coin, as if this were some how related to Asperger's syndrome.
Then I'm browsing Penny Arcade and I'm flicking through the pages (well, clicking) and I notice a page about that boy who built cardboard Halo guns, Tycho then making a "joke" about the child having autism.
Two quotes from Wikipedia here, to clarify what Autism and Asperger's Syndrome are:
"The manifestations of autism cover a wide spectrum, ranging from individuals with severe impairments?who may be silent, mentally disabled, and locked into hand flapping and rocking to less impaired individuals who may have active but distinctly odd social approaches, narrowly focused interests, and verbose, pedantic communication. Sometimes the syndrome is divided into low-, medium- and high-functioning autism (LFA, MFA, and HFA), based on IQ thresholds, or on how much support the individual requires in daily life; these subdivisions are not standardized and are controversial. Autism can also be divided into syndromal and non-syndromal autism, where the former is associated with severe or profound mental retardation or a congenital syndrome with physical symptoms, such as tuberous sclerosis. Although individuals with Asperger's tend to perform better cognitively than those with autism, the extent of the overlap between Asperger's, HFA, and non-syndromal autism is unclear."
"Asperger syndrome is one of the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), which are a spectrum of psychological conditions that are characterized by abnormalities of social interaction and communication that pervade the individual's functioning, and by restricted and repetitive interests and behavior. Like other psychological development disorders, ASD begins in infancy or childhood, has a steady course without remission or relapse, and has impairments that result from maturation-related changes in various systems of the brain. ASD, in turn, is a subset of the broader autism phenotype (BAP), which describes individuals who may not have ASD but do have autistic-like traits, such as social deficits. Of the other four ASD forms, autism is the most similar to AS in signs and likely causes but its diagnosis requires impaired communication and allows delay in cognitive development; Rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder share several signs with autism, but may have unrelated causes; and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) is diagnosed when the criteria for a more specific disorder are unmet. The extent of the overlap between AS and high-functioning autism (HFA?autism unaccompanied by mental retardation) is unclear. The current ASD classification may not reflect the true nature of the conditions."
Now, the thing that I mentioned noticing in my preferred forms of Internet entertainment is in fact the mocking of people like me, the INCORRECT mocking of people like me, no less.
I am not distracted by shiny things, nor do I believe building mock-ups of Halo 3 guns to be "cool". I feel like people on the Autistic Spectrum are just being insulted for the sheer hell of it by people who fucking well don't care what Autism or Asperger's Syndrome actually is.
It's quite infuriating. I was wondering if anyone else noticed this strange phenomena of people randomly insulting people on the Autistic Spectrum?
It is in fact about something I've begun noticing in the videos and web comics I browse.
Okay, I distinctly remember Yahtzee saying in a video "It's like the game has Asperger's syndrome" and the game being distracted by a coin, as if this were some how related to Asperger's syndrome.
Then I'm browsing Penny Arcade and I'm flicking through the pages (well, clicking) and I notice a page about that boy who built cardboard Halo guns, Tycho then making a "joke" about the child having autism.
Two quotes from Wikipedia here, to clarify what Autism and Asperger's Syndrome are:
"The manifestations of autism cover a wide spectrum, ranging from individuals with severe impairments?who may be silent, mentally disabled, and locked into hand flapping and rocking to less impaired individuals who may have active but distinctly odd social approaches, narrowly focused interests, and verbose, pedantic communication. Sometimes the syndrome is divided into low-, medium- and high-functioning autism (LFA, MFA, and HFA), based on IQ thresholds, or on how much support the individual requires in daily life; these subdivisions are not standardized and are controversial. Autism can also be divided into syndromal and non-syndromal autism, where the former is associated with severe or profound mental retardation or a congenital syndrome with physical symptoms, such as tuberous sclerosis. Although individuals with Asperger's tend to perform better cognitively than those with autism, the extent of the overlap between Asperger's, HFA, and non-syndromal autism is unclear."
"Asperger syndrome is one of the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), which are a spectrum of psychological conditions that are characterized by abnormalities of social interaction and communication that pervade the individual's functioning, and by restricted and repetitive interests and behavior. Like other psychological development disorders, ASD begins in infancy or childhood, has a steady course without remission or relapse, and has impairments that result from maturation-related changes in various systems of the brain. ASD, in turn, is a subset of the broader autism phenotype (BAP), which describes individuals who may not have ASD but do have autistic-like traits, such as social deficits. Of the other four ASD forms, autism is the most similar to AS in signs and likely causes but its diagnosis requires impaired communication and allows delay in cognitive development; Rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder share several signs with autism, but may have unrelated causes; and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) is diagnosed when the criteria for a more specific disorder are unmet. The extent of the overlap between AS and high-functioning autism (HFA?autism unaccompanied by mental retardation) is unclear. The current ASD classification may not reflect the true nature of the conditions."
Now, the thing that I mentioned noticing in my preferred forms of Internet entertainment is in fact the mocking of people like me, the INCORRECT mocking of people like me, no less.
I am not distracted by shiny things, nor do I believe building mock-ups of Halo 3 guns to be "cool". I feel like people on the Autistic Spectrum are just being insulted for the sheer hell of it by people who fucking well don't care what Autism or Asperger's Syndrome actually is.
It's quite infuriating. I was wondering if anyone else noticed this strange phenomena of people randomly insulting people on the Autistic Spectrum?
