Does anyone else experience extreme social anxiety to the point of feeling paranoid that everyone is laughing? I feel like I get treated so badly as soon as I step out the front door.
Does anyone else experience extreme social anxiety to the point of feeling paranoid that everyone is laughing? I feel like I get treated so badly as soon as I step out the front door.
Not as bad now I’m much older but as a young person it was pretty chronic. I still feel it sometimes but I don’t tend to be in too many social situations. I do know that I move and act differently to most people so I do understand that people maybe take a second glance but not laughing at me.
Right, but my question is, why are we so understanding of neurotypical attitudes in this respect? If someone has a clear , visible difference, i.e. they are a wheelchair user, they wouldn't tolerate being laughed at or stared at. Why should I accept being treated differently for a more subtle difference?
There are good people and stupid people and always will be. Look at them as stupid and simply feel sorry for them - stupidity is a kind of disability, after all!
There are good people and stupid people and always will be. Look at them as stupid and simply feel sorry for them - stupidity is a kind of disability, after all!
'Stupidity' is nothing to do with learning disability or intelligence - it is chosen behaviour. You are thinking of 'stupidity' in terms of historic words like 'moron', 'imbecile', 'idiot;' - the modern meaning is a verb to describe reckless behaviour.
I’m afraid that isn’t accurate. The OED (for example) defines “stupidity” (a noun) as:
“The state, quality or fact of being stupid or foolish; lack or absence of intelligence, perceptiveness, or common sense. Also: stupid or foolish thinking or behaviour.”
I was also careful to note that “‘stupidity’ can (although doesn't necessarily) mean a lack of intelligence”.
It's nothing to do with learning disability - I am annoyed you wrote that. You are doing the same thing of which you are accusing me!
I didn’t equate learning disabilities with stupidity. Or claim that people with LDs lack intelligence. Neither did you, and I didn't accuse you of it, either.
But LDs do involve reduced intellectual ability. That can sometimes be confused with a lack of intelligence.
Many people with LDs suffer from bullying, including name-calling. I hate to think how often that includes being called “stupid”.
So the point of my response was just to flag how your reply could reasonably be perceived as involving those associations. And suggesting, by extension, that we should feel sorry for people with LDs.
I don’t want to be pitied for being autistic, and I suspect many people with LDs might feel the same. I certainly wouldn’t mind some empathy and compassion, but that’s not the same thing.
I’m absolutely sure, for whatever it may be worth, that wasn’t your intention. It’s perhaps best viewed as an indirect, but foreseeable, potential issue. I certainly didn’t mean to upset you, for which I apologise. Your earlier reply did feel quite shocking to me when I read it, and I hope this better explains why.
It's nothing to do with learning disability - I am annoyed you wrote that. You are doing the same thing of which you are accusing me!
'Stupidity' is nothing to do with learning disability or intelligence - it is chosen behaviour. You are thinking of 'stupidity' in terms of historic words like 'moron', 'imbecile', 'idiot;' - the modern meaning is a verb to describe reckless behaviour.
Why shouldn't acts of stupidity be considered disability? That way you can develop a bit of empathy, in hope people change their behaviour - ANY human is capable of change.
There are good people and stupid people and always will be. Look at them as stupid and simply feel sorry for them - stupidity is a kind of disability, after all!
By way of a gently-intended observation, and considering the autistic community as a whole, I feel uncomfortable with that framing.
Firstly, calling stupidity “a kind of disability” risks making disability itself sound like an insult.
My other concerns stem from the fact that a learning disability involves reduced intellectual ability. According to the NAS, around a third of autistic people also have a learning disability. And “stupidity” can (although doesn't necessarily) mean a lack of intelligence.
Taken in combination, I think it's less than ideal to use framing that risks linking "stupidity", disability, and pity. I don't feel that's fair or respectful to people with learning disabilities, whether they're autistic or allistic.
if stupidity is a disability, then why don't we regulate them in some way?
Good idea. Perhaps Andy Burnham can add this to his, 'to do' list. I think 18th century public stocks would be a good 'sentence' - you can throw sponges [not veg - tomatoes et al are far to expensive to waste]. Just imagine, boy racers, irresponsible e-bike riders, drunks, malicious gossips, people who push in the supermarkets and on streets.
I know we shouldn't discriminate or make life awkward for the disabled, but if stupidity is a disability, then why don't we regulate them in some way? Instead we seem content to let them flaunt their disability daily on a world wide basis, is this really fair on the rest of us? Should there be some law that protects them from thier stupidy? Why can't I run them over when they step out blindly in front of my car, face down in thier phones, it should be seen as Darwinism in action!
