Is ‘autistic’ the new insult?
Written on 9th Feb 2015 by Sylvia Lowery
Over recent times I have become aware of a growing trend. Stating someone is autistic seems to be a new way of suggesting they shouldn”t be listened to are in some way less human.
The first example that springs to mind is the claim by a Pentagon study that President Putin has an autistic spectrum disorder. I find it difficult to believe that they can diagnose him just from public appearances and tiny nuanced facial expressions. You can read about the Russian Presidents spokesman”s angry denial here. This story has been run by almost all news outlets including popular British papers like the Independent and the Telegraph.
However my main reaction to this massively over reported piece of none news is, so what, if it were true what is your point? Are you suggesting that autism makes someone into an evil leader because if that”s so I find that insulting.
George Osborne cause a storm by calling Gordon Brown autistic in a Bournemouth Fringe meeting see here. After complaints from autism charities he claimed he had merely asked if Gordon Brown was slightly autistic. I am dumbfounded to hear that such a senior politician would resort to using such tactics.
Jonathon Ross accused Simon Cowell of having Asperger Syndrome. This is what he said about Mr Cowell.
“It’s like he suffers from a form of Asperger’s where he actually can’t help himself from always saying exactly what he thinks – whatever the circumstance.’
Recently a French politician M. Lelluche accused the Conservatives of being autistic, it is difficult to determine whether he meant it as an insult or not because of the difficulty of online slots translation. These are just few examples of this growing trend.
I asked Alex what he thought of using the term autistic as an insult here is his comment,
‘”I don’t like people using the word autistic as an insult but I can step back from it and am not offended. People have always used disabled conditions as an insult. I don’t think people should do this but if they do it doesn’t make me feel upset, I just think it”s bad mannered and disrespectful. I am shocked though that Politicians and well known people like Jonathon Ross would do this.” 
One reason why the term autistic has become a popular insult is due the success of autism awareness. Not that long ago very few people had heard of autism but now most people have heard of it. It is now time to fill in the space of ignorance so that it is no longer used to insult someone.
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It is sad that people use disabled title to insult others. Like you, comment that it is giving more awareness about Autism.