The Absurd GOP

[Rev. Rye]

Precisely.  While parenting can certainly affect an autistic person's life experience,  we know that it's primarily a function of genetics.

The best things we can do for autists are to eliminate stigmas and accommodate their special needs.

The ones jumping on the RFK Jr. bandwagon seem to forget a few things.  There are more people diagnosed with autism because we know more about it....I can look back to my school days and know there were classmates that would have been on the spectrum if the spectrum was a thing back then.

Not all that different from the rise in cancer diagnosis since we know more and test sooner and the tests are better.

It's not so much there are more people with certain things but rather that we now have names for and look for certain things.

You know, I got into a little disagreement with Boru over whether or not an image like this was insensitive (remember that I am on the autism spectrum myself):



I'd be lying if I said that there wasn't a bit of fun intended in the making of this meme (over a condition I've lived with for over 35 years), but I personally went into making it with two autism-related points in mind:
1) If you were to look at The Big Lebowski through a neurodivergent lens, you could make a pretty strong case that The Dude and his team were all autistic. The Dude with his echolalia (something that helped me through a period where I rarely spoke), Walter with his anger and extreme sense of justice, and Donny with his, well, Donny-ness. It's actually my personal headcanon that they're all different varieties of autistic, something that's, frankly, rare, even in movies explicitly about autism (notably, I think Keep the Change and The Story of Luke are the only canonical autism movies that actually give the audience a glimpse at how broad the spectrum is).

And, of course, there's the other big point that I regret not bringing up there, but should be clear when you remember A: The jackasses who think that the actual number of cases in autism is rising, and B: The fact that, yes, I'm serious about this being a headcanon for a film from 1998:

2) We've been here all this fucking time. You just didn't have much of a grasp of what autism even was back then. You probably just concluded, "well, nobody's counting down the minutes to Wapner; they're not autistic."

And The Big Lebowski isn't even close to the only movie I could use like this. I could use (just to name five) The Conversation, Paris, Texas, The Graduate*, The Producers, or even Taxi Driver, which became my #2 favourite film because, well, nothing about his attempted courtship of Betsy (among many other things) makes sense if you assume he's neurotypical.




* Yes, in my opinion, Dustin Hoffman managed to do a better representation of the higher-functioning end of the spectrum 21 years before he did Rain Man.

[Jackalope]

we've been here all this fucking time. You just didn't have much of a grasp of what autism even was back then.

Not to mention that high-masking autistic people such as myself learned to hide it well enough to pass as neurotypical, out of necessity, much to our detriment, without even knowing ourselves why.

[arewethereyet]

Let's just make sure that they are all stupid...at least the MAGAts know how to do stupid.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/...5162&ei=43

Karoline Leavitt humiliated as she claims Trump built border wall during Biden admin

[arewethereyet]

The ones jumping on the RFK Jr. bandwagon seem to forget a few things.  There are more people diagnosed with autism because we know more about it....I can look back to my school days and know there were classmates that would have been on the spectrum if the spectrum was a thing back then.

Not all that different from the rise in cancer diagnosis since we know more and test sooner and the tests are better.

It's not so much there are more people with certain things but rather that we now have names for and look for certain things.

2) We've been here all this fucking time. You just didn't have much of a grasp of what autism even was back then. 

I am aware of that.  My point was that there wasn't a diagnosis.  

As for the Wapner reference...I was in school and aware that some people were "different" long before Rain Man ever came out.  However, I didn't know a name for it.  I don't think anyone except perhaps a few scientists, psychologists, psychiatrists.

It was a thing...probably always a thing...but it wasn't officially named yet.

You need to calm down.  I am saying some of us have learned.  It's dolts like RFK Jr. who are trying to make it a stigma again.  Fuck a damn duck.

[Rev. Rye]

I know some of us have learned. But the fact that some idiot like RFK Jr is somehow in charge of Secretary of Health makes my blood boil. And that bold point wasn’t meant for you. Just for the idiots who needed it.

[arewethereyet]

Well, I guess I am glad I am one of the other idiots and not one of the ones who need it.

The idea of RFK Jr. having anything to do with science or medicine is disgusting...unless they want to use him as a lab rat for people who have worm infestations in their brains.

[Rev. Rye]

Yeah, if I felt particularly pissed off during that post, it's just because I had just watched David Pakman dissect a particularly enraging clip of BrainWorm Boy talking shit about autism:

[arewethereyet]

Yeah, if I felt particularly pissed off during that post, it's just because I had just watched David Pakman dissect a particularly enraging clip of BrainWorm Boy talking shit about autism:

It makes only Trumpsense to put a past heroin addict with worm tunnels in his brain in charge of health.  But there's a pattern to the level of not being qualified that fits most of his appointees...Linda McMahon, Hegseth, etc...the list is long and disturbing.  He drained the swamp and filled it with things from the cesspool.

[The Architect Of Fate]

Considering most severely autistic people don't often live to 60 is it not a surprise he doesn't see many his age though of course there are exceptions

https://blueabatherapy.com/autism/autism...xpectancy/

[arewethereyet]

Considering most severely autistic people don't live to 60 is it a surprise he doesn't see many his age though of course there are exceptions

https://blueabatherapy.com/autism/autism...xpectancy/

I have to assume that in the last several decades he has encountered people with autism.  He wasn't always the age he is now.  

Of course, you probably don't notice much with a heroin needle hanging from your arm...and a worm eating your brain.

Then again, he may miss social cues because of his own neurodivergence.