Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
LizK

The term 'Aspie'

Recommended Posts

Until I found this forum I had never come across the term Aspie to describe someone with AS. I have to admit to being a little shocked when I read posts where parents referred to their children as 'Aspies' as I would never think to describe my son in that way and get very cross when others describe him as that. My gut feeling about the word was that it was a negative word in the sense that the terms Mongolism for Down Syndrome or Spastic to describe cerebral palsy are seen as derogatory and not accepted use these days. 'Aspie' is a cuter sounding word, maybe that is the difference?

 

The other reason I wouldn't use 'Aspie' is that it seems to take away from my sons individuality. I always describe him as 'having ASD/AS' rather than even being an 'autistic child' as acknowledging he is a person in his own right with his own personality is important to me. Although ASD is a part of him and makes him who he is he is more than that too :). I have a friend whose child has Down Syndrome and she hates it when people refer to her child as a Downs or Downs child. She prefers to describe her child as a *name* who has Down Syndrome.

 

Is it different with ASD and the term Aspie? I don't for one minute think that parents who use the term Aspie are being negative about their kids so maybe it is? I'm not usually one for political correctness, maybe it is just semantics but even now typing this I can't bring myself to use the word Aspie to describe my son!

 

I hope this post doesn't cause offence :unsure: I've posted mainly out of curiosity and am interested to know what others think

 

Liz x

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

:rolleyes: Dunno really - i'd never heard it before either. I dont find it offensive but then again i haven't got AS its my 5 yr old. I wouldn't use the term Aspie myself but thats just my opinion.

 

:rolleyes:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The difference between 'Aspie' and 'Mongolism' or 'Spastic' is that whilst the two latter terms were born out of a downward social comparison by non-disabled people, 'Aspie' was a term made by Aspies who found the Marxist person-with langauge to be offensive, inconsiderate and factually inaccurate.

 

Autistic people in general want information and they want it to be accurate, free of opinion. 'Autistic' is more accurate than 'person with Autism', so the tendency in the Autistic community was to find the person-first term offensive.

 

The origins of person-first terminology in Autism is widely recognised as a result of the stigma Autistics suffer from being excused by semantically seperating the person from the stigmatised condition. Not only does this stifle objectivity in Autism research, it excuses the premises on which abuse against Autistics has always thrived on.

 

Calling a Downs person that would not be offensive if you weren't making Downs people out to be horrid burdens on society to begin with, same goes for Autistics. Would you call a woman a 'person with femaleness' or an African 'a person with dark colour'? Gays used to be called 'people with Homosexuality' until most people started recognising that maybe Homosexuals weren't actually diseased.

 

Non-disabled people all too often apply their non-disabled values and pre-determined ideas to disabled people, often ignoring the objections of disabled people in the proccess. Then they wheel out a disabled person who parrots their prejudicial garbage and proclaim this one person as truly representive of disabled people, so if we agree with the stigmatisation of ourselves, that makes it alright.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Its a term that doesn't bother me, either for use for myself or my son. I agree with Lucas on this one, it is not a term born out of ignorance its a term used with familiarity to the condition ... in fact I take the mick out of my partner sometimes when he is being very literal about everything or being over anal about things i.e like insisting bags of stuff in the freezer have to have a peg on them so as the contents doesn't spill out ... then I turn to him and say 'feeling a bit Asperger's today honey ..!'

 

I'm not being derogative about any of it, but I like to see the lighter side of things, life would be so dull if everything was sooo serious.

 

Asperger's/Aspie/ASD/Autist ... labels ... schmabels! I just think me and T are just quirky.

 

HHxx

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The term no more bothers me than it would bother me to identify myself as gay. Which also does not bother me because I am gay. (even though some straight people try to use gay as an offensive term by using the term as an insult) It's not the word, its how people use it. Sometimes people get so caught up in the pc or pedantics of labelling that it takes away the whole point of labelling as a means of organising and catagorising similar types of information. Male/ female, gay/ straight, black/ white, NT or aspie. It is just a nick name which unless it is given powers of negative denotations, is nothing more than just that. An innoffensive word used as a shortened reference to a person who has aspergers or affiliated ASD tendencies.

 

(I am more put off by the proper pronunciation of aspergers (ass- burgers) and tend to knowingly mispronounce it aspergers as it reads) but if someone else wishes to take offence of an innocent word (aspie) then it is entirely their choice.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think of it that mt son 'has Aspergers' like i would say 'I have chicken pox, or an ingrowing toenail'

 

Its something he 'has' not what 'he is'............ and we find ways to cope together, like you would buy calamine for the chicken pox (except it takes longer to manage........... :wacko: )

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I think of it that mt son 'has Aspergers' like i would say 'I have chicken pox, or an ingrowing toenail'

 

Its something he 'has' not what 'he is'............ and we find ways to cope together, like you would buy calamine for the chicken pox (except it takes longer to manage........... :wacko: )

Except that chicken pox or ingrowing toenails are nasty temporary ailments that can be cured, unlike AS or autism.

 

I agree with Lucas on this one, and I take my cue from my daughter who says very firmly that she does not "have autism" but that she is "autistic". It is her identity - there is not some other more complete person waiting to get out.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I believe it,s part of what makes my son who he is.He has many gifts borne from AS, and I,m proud of these and him.I refer to him as an Aspie at times , because I don,t believe it,s derogatory,and isn,t used that way.I agree it depends how the name is used and inferred,I agree with Lucas on this B) .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow! Thank you for the replies. Interesting especially how the term was derived.

 

I dunno though I still struggle to see my son as 'being' ASD, it is part of him but not the whole of him. I see some very non-ASD like traits in his personality and way of being. I am not trying to deny the ASD side of him, I think he has some great attributes as a result but equally I don't want deny the other aspects of his personality or overimmerse him in ASDness. Maybe I am being hideously naive or in denial (don't think am the latter) but the 'has' rather than 'is' analogy is how I perceive it. My son seems to have mild ASD (again aware others disgree with term 'mild' but it is one I am comfortable using) and maybe if that wasn't the case I would feel differently.

 

Asked my H who himself has a lot of AS-traits especially as a child how he felt about labelled as an 'aspie' and he was horrified. "I'm normal - just a bit different" was his reply! Just goes to show everyone is different. Obviously if my son wants to be described as autistic or an aspie when he is older then that is fine as it is his choice and what he wants (which is a different issue) but he is only three and doesn't give two hoots what I call him so not really any matter yet.

 

Liz

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

for the honest opinion of a portion of the aspergers community, you will have to wait until the book comes out

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I do find myself tending to say Logan is autistic, rather than he has autism as I dont see it as something separate from him, its part of him (but doesn't necessarily define him).

 

Lynne x

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I feel for myself that autism is an integral part of who Com is. If he wasn't autistic he would be a different person. I want to value my child for who he is and so although I don't perhaps understand the autism enough to value it of itself, I value my child as autistic and try to appreciate all that it means for him.

Therefore, for me, Com is autistic/AS as well as being Com, it is not a 'shell' over him or his personality, or something attached to him, but part of who he is.

For me the term Aspie doesn't have negative connotations, it's just Com doesn't like it but then he doesn't like the word 'stim' either even though he stims constantly - I think he just doesn't like shortening things actually

 

I didn't see it that way when he was first diagnosed, I've sort of grown into it as I learned more about Com and about autism.

 

Zemanski

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

LizIi dislike it as well, along with 'auti' . In fact I dislike both of them so much that my fingers hesitate on the keyboard everytime I have to type them, but they do seem to be 'the' words to use.

 

And my son is autistc :) , he doesn't have autism.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi liz :)

 

As far as I know many young adult DX with asperger call themself ASPIE I don't find it offensive if they don't.

My son is autistic means to me that he has a different personality and I have to take this personality into account when I decide to do something this apply for my daughter (NT) as well and everybody else around me. :wub:

If I invite a vegetarian for dinner I certainly won't offer him meat if not what is the point of the invitation all together. >:D<<'>

. We may argue that I did not invited autism with my son but autism is a part of him and he is always welcome as he is. >:D<<'>

 

Malika.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think it depends on whether or not the person with AS is comfortable with the term. The words 'gay' and 'black' were adopted by those communities as a form of empowerment, to remove the offensive implications of those terms. If I think of the word 'aspie' in the same light then it makes it easier for me to accept. Anyway, I've not come across anyone using it in a demeaning manner, more as one of endearment and acceptance.

 

Karen

x

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have never thought of the term Aspie as derogatory, maybe that is because I first came across the term when people with Aspergers were describing themselves.

 

Simon

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes I agree I first heard the word Aspie when someone was describing themselves. It is just a shorter word.

 

I asked my son how he felt about it and he said that he thought it was a nicer sounding word and he doesn't like the word aspergers, I suppose it is just a personal thing.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I use the word and dont find it derogatory. My son (10, AS) has used it to describe others who are also autistic in his view. Those outside these communities dont understand it and so its of limited useage IMHO. I have found myseld saying that me or hubbie had a a particular aspie type behaviour to son who thought it amusing. Ive never used it in a negative manner and apologiuse now if anyone sees it as such

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I may be in the monority but I still don't like the word Aspie, it instinctively doesn't feel right! Actually it's not the word itself thinking about it it's how it's used. So saying something like 'my son is an aspie' makes me recoil because it makes him sound like that's all he is. He's not just an aspie or anything else, he's Adam! His personality may be intrinsically linked with his ASD in a symbiotic (or parasitic if we're having a bad day) relationship but he's still got his own unique personality traits, there's more to him than just autism. Both aspects of him are important and recognised but calling him an aspie seems to deny his individuality and his identity. So maybe it's how I understand the word being used. I guess calling a child an aspie as a descriptive term for 'my child has Aspergers' is a different use just like you'd more describe someone with diabetes as a diabetic

 

Gah, rambling now. Can't put into words what I'm trying to say! Aks me in five years if I feel the same ;)

 

I have realised I interchangably say that Adam 'is autistic' as well as saying 'having autism/ASD/AS' simply because I think the former sounds better semantically than the latter

 

Lx!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Personally I really like the term 'Aspie'...and, most importantly, it was coined by people with Aspergers to describe themselves :thumbs:

 

Bid :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My son has just turned 8 and is starting to use the word "Aspergers" without any problem at all, i don`t see any need for him to use the term Aspie but i`ll just go along with whatever phrase he seems acceptable to but if he chooses to use it then thats fine with me too. I personally don`t think there are any wrongs or rights with particular terms as long as your kid is happy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

'People with autism' came about some time in the last fifteen years after parents groups in America decided without consulting Autistics(unless each one means their own specific child) that 'Autistic' is derogatory and must be replaced with person-first langauge. This ignored everything scientific evidence said about Autism's inherent and pervasive nature of the person and reduced it to being an interchangable and unwelcome part.

 

'Autistic' was not a derogatory term, but the correct and accurate term to describe an Autistic person. But the Reagan era had just finished, in this time the words 'political correctness' had just been coined because calling is 'Frankfurt School Marxism' was a bit of a mouthful.

 

Ironically, the ideology of FSM says that by controlling and restricting the use of langauge you control and restrict the circulation of thought itself. So those practicing Frankfurt Marxists decided to prevent attacks on their ideology by coining a new popular term for FSM: Political Correctness. So political correctness was itself subject to political correctness. Frankfurt School Marxism was changed to a more politically correct term, but it wasn't the accurate or truthful one. The whole point of this exercise has worked brilliantly: two decades on and lots of people complain about political correctness without knowing what it actually means, because it's proper name was subject to political correctness!

 

So this demonstrated how the purpose of PC/FSM is to stigmatise a term and replace it with another one so that the original meaning is lost. Control langauge and you control the thought of the huddled masses. If we look at the Union Jack forever as a negative symbol reminding us of the brutal British Empire(yerknow there were good things; we did introduce large swathes of the world to reading which they never had before!), then it will be ceased upon by the likes of the BNP. Just as 'Spastic' was abandoned, it became a wholly negative term when it wasn't before. This wasn't the case with Mongolism(Down's Syndrome) because that began life as a derogatory term, but Spastic didn't.

 

Don't let Frankfurt Marxists re-write history by destroying original langauge and thought. If you don't stigmatise Autism, Autistic isn't a stigmatising word! The problem with the parents lobbies in the US and Canada is that they WANT it to be stigmatised regardless of the information available.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Personally I don't like the term and don't like calling myself that. It feels like it is trying to "cutesify" the condition and has such a horrid clique-ish ring to it (large groups of 'Aspies' boasting about how great it is to have AS, and how rubbish everyone else is).

 

I prefer to say I am on the autistic spectrum or have been diagnosed with a form of autism.

Edited by Noetic

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...