Aspies For Freedom

She (Grandin) laments the way schools have dropped classes like wood shop and metal shop and drafting--the kinds of classes that saved her when she was going to school and failing classes like algebra.

Those changes directly affect autistic children.  But normal humans are experiencing a similar loss.  We surround ourselves with television and computer games.  We practically live in our offices.  We inhabit a cocoon of associations and representations of the world around us--increasingly a world divorced from nature.

I would like to comment on the language in What Do Animals Think, particularly the use of "normal" to mean "non-Autistic."  I understand that the article is based on an interview with Temple Grandin and that she does not object to such usage.  However, the preferred term in the Autistic community to describe a person with typical neurology is "neurotypical."

If you were publishing an article about the Deaf community, for example, you would not use "normal" as the opposite of Deaf, you would use "hearing."  The same consideration should be shown to other groups in your choice of language.  It is demeaning to suggest that everyone in the world is normal except Autistic people.

Also, regarding this passage from the article,

"Those changes directly affect autistic children.  But normal humans are experiencing a similar loss.  We surround ourselves with television and computer games..."

The use of "we" in this context assumes (incorrectly) that Discover has no Autistic readers.  It is akin to the 19th century practice of writing "we white people" in books and magazine articles.

Given the subject matter of Discover, it is likely that your subscribers include a significant number of Aspies/Autistics.  Many of us would appreciate the use of more inclusive language.

I find it interesting that autism was mentioned separately twice in the same issue (May) and that the references to each were essentially polar opposites of one another. In “What Do Animals Think?” about Temple Grandin (diagnosed as autistic as a child), we learn of the special and unique perceptions she possesses of the world around us, as a direct function of her autism. Then, later in the issue we are told that “with the birth of neural engineering, we will see the end of many devastating cases of brain abnormalities that cripple human life, including autism, depression, and schizophrenia” (Marc D. Hauser, Think Tank: Neuroscience). It is worth considering what we will be missing the day that science extends us all the privilege of being “normal.”



Rocky Semmes

Alexandria, Virginia