Health

Pop Media Continues Autism Disinformation Crusade

by dysamoria | April 24, 2008 at 08:06 pm

434 views | 10 Recommendations | 2 comments

A friend with Asperger's Syndrome recently shared the following with me:

"Quiz Topic: Autism"
Dr. Joyce Brothers

http://www.arcamax.com/drjoycebrothers/s-325609-510188

It is a "Quiz" on autism, offered by ArcaMax Publishing's website, featuring Dr. Joyce Brothers.

Dr. Joyce Brothers is an authority on what, exactly?

READER BEWARE: i don't feel this article is a reliable information source. The basic terminology isn't even correct:

Question one refers to autism as a "disease."

Autism is not a "disease." The terms that are correct are "disorder" and "syndrome."

Right there in question one we have prime evidence that Dr. Joyce Brothers needs to get her basic terminology straight. Until then, i declare there to be no shred of credibility in the article. Casual terminology mistakes like this contribute to disinformation about autism (or any topic) and nicely demonstrates how "authority" can lead to societal damage. Dr. Brothers has "a name" and she's using it to talk about something her "name" doesn't yet have "media connections" to... and spreading information that's incorrect in the process.

"Does one little mistake like that really count?" you might ask.

Hell yes. It's an example of sloppiness. When there is this amount of casual terminology error, by someone who should know better (and demonstrate better) there likely to be more errors ... and authorities should be held to a higher standard, don't you think?

i wont even begin to pick apart the rest of the article (be my guest at doing that for yourself to this so-called "quiz"); i fear being frustrated beyond my tolerances. As an autistic, i've suffered enough at the hands of so-called "professionals" and "authorities." My life is a horror because of it. Pop media is the worst and "quizzes" like this are entertainment, not education.

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Jordan Yerman

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:06 on April 25th, 2008

A vaccine?! But it's not even a disease... I knew that before even reading the intro above, and I'm not at all an expert (everything I know about autism/Asberger's was gleaned from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime which is a work of fiction and not a true depiction of autism; however, it portrays a kid who was born a certain way and has found methods of functioning with and around the hand he was dealt, which seems fairly accurate to me: I don't know- and can't know- what it's really like to be autistic).

dysamoria

at 01:13 on May 29th, 2008

thanks, Jordan. i really appreciate your words and sentiments here. i have found that the book you referenced is the introduction to Asperger's Syndrome for MANY people. it being a work of fiction, and having found that i don't fit in with other people who have AS (i always feel like i'm ten steps ahead in social/emotional/communication growth), i fear that there is no form of advocation for someone like myself (there MUST be more like me, but so far i have been analyzed and compared and i stick out as being different among different people). i hope that my postings help a little in "educating" people about what it's like to be autistic as a highly functional adult who's been beaten down to the point of having to go on disability. i call what i've experienced "neuroracism."

Thanks again for your kind comments and sharing your view :)