The Spectrum Concept

Xanadu said:

The word spectrum in my view helps the average people grasp that not all Autistic people are exactly the same. Why is that so hard to grasp that we need a fancy word.

Because the word helps them grasp it. You answered that yourself! If it helps people be aware of that so be it. I consider everyone who is Autistic to be Autistic.

Xanadu said:

black people are just referred to as black

Hmmm. Not really. I've heard enough terms like "blacka", "browning", "yellowman", and "redbone" said by black people to say some consider it a "spectrum". It can get quite nasty. Try telling some Dominicans or Panamanians that they are black, they will say they are Latino. Try telling some West Africans that they are the same as Afro-Carribeans. I've seen a few arguments over it over the years, and physical fights. Girls especially get nasty over the skin tone thing. It's all a thing, if you are around those communities enough you will hear it from time to time.

Hey Cloudy

I was married to a Jamaican man for 10 years.  I am white.  I was in care and raised by a Jamaican couple.  I have 4 mixed race children.  I speak fluent patois (lol).  Trust me, I know all the nasty terms that are used.  My children can be referred to as "dilutes" "lightskin" "greys" da di dah di dah.  That wasn't my point.  Generally in society the correct term is black.  Black people do not like being referred to as coloured or any other term like that - BY OTHER PEOPLE.  Amongst themselves it is open season!!   

This kind of wasn't my point.  My point was that as a general term we don't need to distinguish that not everyone is the same shade do we?  In fact where black people are concerned, a white person doing that would be considered rude.  Black people are just referred to as being black in society and that is the polite and accepted term (for the majority).  We don't need to distinguish the 'spectrum' - yet it is clearly there.

The same is true for depression.  Some poor souls can't get out of bed or function, others can with an antidepressant.  There is a spectrum of depression.  There is also a spectrum for ADHD as well!!  Why isn't ADHD a 'spectrum disorder' because it absolutely is!!!   There is a spectrum for Cerebral Palsy and a spectrum of visual impairment.  Yet we do not stick "spectrum" in the label because it's a 'given'.  My point is that why can't it be a 'given' for Autism.

I wonder why so many years on with all the campaigning that people still do not get it?  

It still remains that if Johnny doesn't present like little Billy that they once looked after or knew then Johnny is fine and God help Johnny if he can make fleeting eye contact!!  

I don't think there is anything wrong with helping those that don't understand to understand it by explaining it as a spectrum because it absolutely is.  I just wonder why in the case of Autism it is so 'hard' to understand.

I guess I am of the camp that would like to see the Spectrum and Disorder bit of the label dropped.  I don't identify as having a disorder and I do not feel the need to plot myself between two extreme points.  More importantly I don't want someone else doing that either and getting it wrong!  If they can't understand that Autism is a spectrum, how on earth are they going to plot me in the right place and where am I on this spectrum?  I have a gifted IQ, yet I cannot leave the house to buy a pint of milk.

I can fake my way through social engagements for about half an hour till the cracks start appearing, yet certain smells can make me cry and have to leave a room.   I can put together a very complicated spreadsheet, yet I do not know my times tables.  

Yesterday I had a legal decision overturned by pointing out that the law was applied incorrectly by the very person who decided if the law was broken or not at a higher legal level.  I did that without legal help on my own.  Yet sometimes I can't explain what I mean to friends or remember what I came into a room for and I confuse people and leave them wondering what an earth I'm banging on about.

I'm kind of all over the spectrum.  I don't sit at one point and I think that is my gripe with the spectrum concept.  Also I guess I am considered to be high functioning (another term I'm not fond of).  At the higher end of the spectrum!  With that comes the "you are ok and don't need any help" - Really??  Like I can't leave the house alone.  At the other end people can get 'written off'.  My little boy cannot speak, he permanently spins, verbally stims and his eyes go in different directions, he dribbles and wears nappies at nearly 9 years old.  He looks like he is at the lower end of the spectrum!  Yet he can operate an iphone better than me.  He speaks and spells 10 letter words on an Ipad and he is a smart cookie.  So where does he sit on the spectrum?

I don't know I'm probably explaining myself poorly but almost by highlighting the spectrum which is helpful on the one hand, on the other it allows other people to 'plot' us on it!! x

Also truly are we on a spectrum at all in the true meaning of the word spectrum. 

used to classify something in terms of its position on a scale between two extreme points

Do we all sit at a certain place between two extreme points or are we all a bit more like me and all over the flipping thing ????  If we don't sit at a particular position, then is it truly a spectrum in the literal meaning of that word?  Is that the right word at all?  

Are we not just Autistic which is more akin to the concept of a snowflake (which is still not quite the right concept either) . . .   From a distance a lot of it can look similar but under closer examination every single one of us actually is totally unique?

Hey Cloudy

I was married to a Jamaican man for 10 years.  I am white.  I was in care and raised by a Jamaican couple.  I have 4 mixed race children.  I speak fluent patois (lol).  Trust me, I know all the nasty terms that are used.  My children can be referred to as "dilutes" "lightskin" "greys" da di dah di dah.  That wasn't my point.  Generally in society the correct term is black.  Black people do not like being referred to as coloured or any other term like that - BY OTHER PEOPLE.  Amongst themselves it is open season!!   

This kind of wasn't my point.  My point was that as a general term we don't need to distinguish that not everyone is the same shade do we?  In fact where black people are concerned, a white person doing that would be considered rude.  Black people are just referred to as being black in society and that is the polite and accepted term (for the majority).  We don't need to distinguish the 'spectrum' - yet it is clearly there.

The same is true for depression.  Some poor souls can't get out of bed or function, others can with an antidepressant.  There is a spectrum of depression.  There is also a spectrum for ADHD as well!!  Why isn't ADHD a 'spectrum disorder' because it absolutely is!!!   There is a spectrum for Cerebral Palsy and a spectrum of visual impairment.  Yet we do not stick "spectrum" in the label because it's a 'given'.  My point is that why can't it be a 'given' for Autism.

I wonder why so many years on with all the campaigning that people still do not get it?  

It still remains that if Johnny doesn't present like little Billy that they once looked after or knew then Johnny is fine and God help Johnny if he can make fleeting eye contact!!  

I don't think there is anything wrong with helping those that don't understand to understand it by explaining it as a spectrum because it absolutely is.  I just wonder why in the case of Autism it is so 'hard' to understand.

I guess I am of the camp that would like to see the Spectrum and Disorder bit of the label dropped.  I don't identify as having a disorder and I do not feel the need to plot myself between two extreme points.  More importantly I don't want someone else doing that either and getting it wrong!  If they can't understand that Autism is a spectrum, how on earth are they going to plot me in the right place and where am I on this spectrum?  I have a gifted IQ, yet I cannot leave the house to buy a pint of milk.

I can fake my way through social engagements for about half an hour till the cracks start appearing, yet certain smells can make me cry and have to leave a room.   I can put together a very complicated spreadsheet, yet I do not know my times tables.  

Yesterday I had a legal decision overturned by pointing out that the law was applied incorrectly by the very person who decided if the law was broken or not at a higher legal level.  I did that without legal help on my own.  Yet sometimes I can't explain what I mean to friends or remember what I came into a room for and I confuse people and leave them wondering what an earth I'm banging on about.

I'm kind of all over the spectrum.  I don't sit at one point and I think that is my gripe with the spectrum concept.  Also I guess I am considered to be high functioning (another term I'm not fond of).  At the higher end of the spectrum!  With that comes the "you are ok and don't need any help" - Really??  Like I can't leave the house alone.  At the other end people can get 'written off'.  My little boy cannot speak, he permanently spins, verbally stims and his eyes go in different directions, he dribbles and wears nappies at nearly 9 years old.  He looks like he is at the lower end of the spectrum!  Yet he can operate an iphone better than me.  He speaks and spells 10 letter words on an Ipad and he is a smart cookie.  So where does he sit on the spectrum?

I don't know I'm probably explaining myself poorly but almost by highlighting the spectrum which is helpful on the one hand, on the other it allows other people to 'plot' us on it!! x

Also truly are we on a spectrum at all in the true meaning of the word spectrum. 

used to classify something in terms of its position on a scale between two extreme points

Do we all sit at a certain place between two extreme points or are we all a bit more like me and all over the flipping thing ????  If we don't sit at a particular position, then is it truly a spectrum in the literal meaning of that word?  Is that the right word at all?  

Are we not just Autistic which is more akin to the concept of a snowflake (which is still not quite the right concept either) . . .   From a distance a lot of it can look similar but under closer examination every single one of us actually is totally unique?

Hi Xanadu,

Long time no see.

Reading through you seem to have accepted spectrum! I just think if the name keeps changing it will throw things into a muddle. If we change the name on a whim it will throw out everyone who has a grasp of the current definition. Since I've been diagnosed the goalposts keep moving. Dealing with all the red tape we all have to cut through like psychiatrists, GP's, the education system, the welfare system, and the general public, I think most of us know that they don't have much of a clue. I'm good with spectrum because it does give a good indication of the large area Autism encapsulates.

Xanadu said:

I was married to a Jamaican man for 10 years

Lol, that's pretty weird. I was in my longest relationship with a Jamaican girl for about a decade myself. Her mom was Afro-Panamanian but raised in the mountains near Portland. I think you and I have had a pretty much similar experience. I was pretty much "in my own world" in nursery and my best friend had just came over from Jamaica. The school sat us together because they couldn't understand him and I wouldn't stop talking and singing, albiet pretty much nonsensical stuff. I was pretty advanced with my work though and the teachers didn't really give him much time. I think they couldn't understand either of us! We sort of bounced off one another and were each others "translators". I got better at interacting and he got better with work and speaking with the teachers. Yeah, Patwa is basically English but his family are from Clarendon, if you've ever met anyone from that Parish, you'll know it's real country, probably the fastest and thickest accent on the island. Looking back the teachers were real lazy! It worked out well for both of us anyway. That's my oldest friend and we are still best friends. His mom and my mom are real close too. I can understand Patwa and speak it, although I don't, very rarely, lol. Just for a laugh when the time is right!

I'm detracting from the thread here but I'd like to speak about the whole black "spectrum" thing. It's sort of weird for me to just say black people are all the same. Especially seeing the stuff I have and still do. From what I see there are lines of difference. Even in an area like the Carribean. You must have heard the "small island" thing that Jamaicans call the people from places like St. Kitts and Nevis. Nigerians also seem to have a load of insults for Carribean people at times. I don't think that they all lump each other in together, sometimes it gets pretty bad! Putting it into perspective though calling a Bajan the same as a Kenyan is like saying a Finnish person is the same as a Spaniard. I've seen some crazy stuff though, there was a Bajan kid growing up who's dad would beat him if he'd been hanging around with Jamaicans. He said they were bad kids without knowing them!