4 ms·
The argument is clear but not entirely persuasive. There are a lot of people on the spectrum who have no hope of expressing their thoughts in an essay like this
by emodendroket 5y ago
The argument is clear but not entirely persuasive. There are a lot of people on the spectrum who have no hope of expressing their thoughts in an essay like this or ever living independently. Whether we call it “mild” or “high-functioning” or some other choice along the euphemism treadmill, it does not change the fact that these people have very different prospects.
- mannykannot 5y agoI may have misunderstood your point here, but I do not think the author intended to suggest that her situation was in any way a worst case, or to minimize the difficulties faced by others. On the other hand, I do think she was pointing out that terms like high or low functioning are not categories of the spectrum, and nor are they the sort of issue it is intended to differentiate between.
- emodendroket 5y agoI took the point of the piece to be that thinking about it in terms of "best" or "worst" cases was itself wrongheaded, and that there's no meaningful distinction you could make between "high" or "low" function. Assuming that's what she meant, I don't agree.
- mannykannot 5y agoI feel that it is implicit in the passage I quoted that the author sees such a distinction, but that her doctor was mistaken in assuming that it is determined by the spectrum diagnosis.