4 ms·

I don’t mean to sound snarky, but this really discounts so many factors in how autism is dealt with and even worse it makes it sound as if autistic people are u

by toofy 7y ago

I don’t mean to sound snarky, but this really discounts so many factors in how autism is dealt with and even worse it makes it sound as if autistic people are unable to learn how their actions impact people around them, which is of course completely untrue. Autistic people may have difficulty interpreting things such as social cues, but they are absolutely not incapable. We have indications from many of those closest to RMS that he was willfully dismissive of others feelings. It wasn’t that he was unaware, he was both aware of his difficulties reading others, and made a choice to be dismissive. It’s painful, I get it. I met RMS many times and still consider him to be one of our era’s great minds and one who’s actions have had nothing short of an incredible impact on society. However, he has–despite this article from his publicist–a long history of bad actions. I believe there should always be a path forward if people wish to remain a public figure. But this path can’t start with easily disprovable excuses.

vnth93 7y ago
Sorry but I'm going to have to ask for the basis of your claim here. It is wellknown that autistic people's lack of selfawareness is varying and inconsistent and how much they can overcome this depends heavily on how much help they received. Normal people misread the intentions of each other on a regular basis yet are somehow experts on the autistic mind?
DoreenMichele 7y ago
The ability to overcome the effect of a disability is partly how severe it is, partly how much and what kind of support one gets and partly time and effort. It's a constant effort and during times of stress it's hard or impossible to maintain. An awful lot of so-called "normal" men manage to offend women right and left. There are raft loads of women very up in arms about "normal" male behavior. The world generally has a very long way to go to resolve that question.
yumyai 7y ago
Sorry, but I couldn't bring myself to read your whole reply. It is like you are saying that people without legs are not unable to walk, they are unwilling.
dependenttypes 7y ago
I offer http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/tact.html http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/tact.html > he was willfully dismissive of others feelings I can't see why this is considered this bad honestly.
asjw 7y ago
> how autism is dealt with Stallman was born 67 years a go. Autism wasn't even a thing. Until the 1980 it was diagnosed as schizophrenia and only in 1987 a checklist for diagnosing it was proposed Anyway, not caring too much about other people's feelings when people don't care too much about your medical condition is perfectly acceptable
- anoncake 7y ago
  > Autism wasn't even a thing. Just like in the middle ages, there was only a single illness that caused fever (aptly named "fever"). More advanced illnesses required bacteria and viruses which were not invented until 1676 respectively 1892. I wonder how genetic disorders worked back then considering genes didn't exist yet.

by toofy 7y ago

vnth93 7y ago

Sorry but I'm going to have to ask for the basis of your claim here. It is wellknown that autistic people's lack of selfawareness is varying and inconsistent and how much they can overcome this depends heavily on how much help they received. Normal people misread the intentions of each other on a regular basis yet are somehow experts on the autistic mind?

DoreenMichele 7y ago

The ability to overcome the effect of a disability is partly how severe it is, partly how much and what kind of support one gets and partly time and effort. It's a constant effort and during times of stress it's hard or impossible to maintain. An awful lot of so-called "normal" men manage to offend women right and left. There are raft loads of women very up in arms about "normal" male behavior. The world generally has a very long way to go to resolve that question.

yumyai 7y ago

Sorry, but I couldn't bring myself to read your whole reply. It is like you are saying that people without legs are not unable to walk, they are unwilling.

dependenttypes 7y ago

I offer http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/tact.html http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/tact.html > he was willfully dismissive of others feelings I can't see why this is considered this bad honestly.

asjw 7y ago

> how autism is dealt with Stallman was born 67 years a go. Autism wasn't even a thing. Until the 1980 it was diagnosed as schizophrenia and only in 1987 a checklist for diagnosing it was proposed Anyway, not caring too much about other people's feelings when people don't care too much about your medical condition is perfectly acceptable

anoncake 7y ago
> Autism wasn't even a thing. Just like in the middle ages, there was only a single illness that caused fever (aptly named "fever"). More advanced illnesses required bacteria and viruses which were not invented until 1676 respectively 1892. I wonder how genetic disorders worked back then considering genes didn't exist yet.