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mdchan — AuTalkz II - 001 - Insults
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#autism #bear #blake #danny #dog #downsyndrome #insult #kairy #wolf #autalkz
Published: 2016-02-04 21:22:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 4424; Favourites: 45; Downloads: 0
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Next: CriteriaRevised version! I suppose it can be called the "true" first issue, while the other was just the "pilot" issue.
Also, very quick disclaimer:
I DON'T APPROVE OF ANY OF THESE TERMS BEING USED AS INSULTS (Downs, Autist, Retard). BLAKE AND DANNY ARE SAYING THEM FOR THE SAKE OF THE POINT/COMIC!
For the longest time, the word "retard" was used as a horrible insult. In fact, that's partially the reason why the DSM changed it to "Intellectual Disability".
Hang on, I'm going somewhere with this.
So, the place I saw this word thrown around the most as an insult was the gaming community (as that's pretty much my social life, and not many people actually call someone a "retard" in person...cause, you know, safety of that computer screen).
At the time when I first began to play MMOs (which was shortly before WoW came out), it wasn't used often. As WoW and other games grew, I noticed that the word "retard" was used more and more often as an insult.
It completely blew up to the point where practically everyone was using it, and moderators (in MMOs or social chatrooms) just didn't care or did nothing.
These days, I've been seeing something new used in place of "retard". It's, you've guessed it, "autistic"/"autist". I've also seen "downs" being used (or the full term) as an insult.
I've seen this more and more often. When it happened once on Pokemon Showdown (and I even saved the chat log), it wasn't just one person.
Another person chimed in saying that it's a "funny insult".
NO.
No, it's not.
Seeing what happened with the word "retard" as an insult, we CAN NOT let the same thing happen with the word "autistic" (or even "downs").
These words should not be used as an insult to describe someone who is stupid/noobish/disliked (as that's the context; it's pretty much the 2015+ replacement for the word "retard" being used as an insult).
The mods did NOTHING until there were about three people using it as an insult, and one person and myself protesting it to the point where it turned into an argument.
They didn't step in until it had already gone too far, which is another huge issue. Already, people are ignoring the fact that this is CYBER BULLYING. And worse, it paints people who are autistic (or have down's syndrome) in a bad light.
PEOPLE WHO HAVE AUTISM (or just want to help raise awareness):
You shouldn't have to put up with this! Tell everyone you can about it, share this comic, whatever you want to do, but LET PEOPLE KNOW, please! If you have connections to organizations, reach out to them to help stop the spread of this word. I'm just one person...I can't be a wave, but I can help start a wave.
Spread the word! Let as many people know about this! The more people who know, the greater the chance that something can be done to stop it before it gets too far.
Again, I've seen what happened with the "retard" insult...this IS going to explode, there's no doubt. We need to stop this NOW before it gets that far.
PARENTS:
Please, please, PLEASE...don't advocate hate. Your beliefs are your own, fine, but nobody on the internet can go tell you that your kid is being inappropriate. It's up to you to make sure that, before your kid goes into a public chat room no matter where it is, there are things which they just SHOULD NOT SAY.
Calling someone "autistic" as an insult is one of those things.
TEACHERS:
If you hear anyone using it as an insult (though so far, I've only heard this used online), don't turn a blind eye to it. That's as bad as encouraging the problem. Let the child know that calling someone "autistic" or "retard" as an insult is not okay to do...involve the parents if you have to, but don't just let it happen. It's bullying.
CHAT MODS:
If you see anyone, and I mean ANYONE, using the word "autistic" as an insult in your chatroom, DO NOT IGNORE IT.
Ban them straight away. Send a message that it is NOT OKAY to use this word as an insult. Don't let it get to a point where emotions are high and nobody has been disciplined.
Telling people to just "stop talking about it" does nothing. The people who used it as an insult need to learn that their actions have reprecussions...and poor actions have punishments. Time them out or ban them, but DO SOMETHING.
If I was a moderator and I saw someone bullying other people in the chat, be it with swearing or using words such as "autistic" or "retard" as an euphemism for "moron", I'd drop a banhammer on them immediately.
You have the power to stop these things...don't wait until it escalates, stop it before it can even get started.
YOUTUBE USERS/CONTENT CREATORS
Immediately flag any comment you see where someone uses the word "autistic" as an insult. Someone's comment reminded me to add this in, as Youtube was the first place I saw it used as an insult.
If you like this artwork and wish to help support me in doing them, please take a look at my patreon page at www.patreon.com/mdchan
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Comments: 65
This is late but back when I was on Facebook, I was inspired by what my friend shared so I did that too. Until she said that I "COPIED HER" and I apologized, then I messaged her a few hours later and she called me an 'RMF" = Retarted Mongoloid F I had no idea that reatard was an insult. she probably wasn't even aware of the word being an insult neither. I knew I should've confronted her but I was too angry to even talk. Also that's just effing stupid, calling someone retard just because that I did the same thing that she did which is also THAT EVERYONE ELSE DOES. (If she can take photos with cute stuff in it then I CAN TOO at no matter what time.) She thought that it was a competition EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T TO ME. She is a busy person now, and I don't want to talk to her about this past incident. But thinking about this really makes me want to yell at her even though I don't want to cause problems.
She probably thought about it too and felt sorry for her actions and just wishes that she could apologize to me, she is a good person on the other hand after all.....
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thing is those people who have Autism, might been one the smartest people in history. if i remember correctly Einstein has been theorized to have Autism.
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Yep. Many people with Autism tend to have high IQs (yea, I've head about that thing with Einstein).
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I really want to bring this up considering this is post-2016. How should we get them to stop? If you tell the people to stop who are using autistic as an insult, you're seen as an SJW. Ok so there is this really offensive video on the Sonic fanbase called "The Sonic Fanbase is Autistic", I told the guy who made the video how offensive it was and another commenter said that That autistic means stupid and I should just get over it. He also threatened me for spamming if I didn't delete the comment, Ironic I know, the comment is gone anyway. So back to what I was saying are you an SJW if you report someone or call them out on it?
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At this point, I ignore them; it's been building for years (using "autistic" as an insult; many games are auto-translating it to "savant", which is a "props to them" in addition to being hilarious). All they're doing is showing their relative maturity level (pre-teen or "technically a teen" level) and the entire internet how stupid they are. There are others who will be just as stupid and follow like lemmings, but it's far too late to stop it.
I used to counter them by saying that they're actually complimenting whomever they are talking about (which pissed them off to no end), but now I just roll my eyes, report the comment if I can, and move on. If they want to be uneducated, willfully ignorant asshats, then let them post in places where the entire WORLD can see that they're an asshole (aka, the internet). Reporting is anonymous; as long as you don't say anything first, they won't know it's you. Treat them like you'd treat a troll, cause that's all they are.
Now, I will admit that it's sometimes fun to troll the trolls...but honestly, they're making fools of themselves as-is. It used to be "the (insert fanbase here) is retarded", now it's "autistic". They're trying to get attention and are trolling hard, and they know that using the word "autistic" is annoying (aka, "triggering") many people. So, they get the annoyed responses they want, and they're happy they got the attention.
The two ways to counter that are:
1. Ignore and report them (the best solution; they're showing the world that they're an uneducated fool, so you really don't have to do more on that front)
2. Counter them with a positive statement or logic (since trolls hate logic and people being smart, this is "trolling the troll"; do keep in mind that this will spark a response...probably one filled with profanity)
Since you're talking about a video itself and it is intended to target and degrade people, it should be against the Terms of Service on whatever website it's posted on...so just report the video and the user.
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Back when it first started to circulate as an insult, people tended to abbreviate it to "autist" instead of saying "autistic".
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I can't stand it when people say these things. And people with Down Syndrom and people with Autism have actually been known to live perfectly normal, even above average, lives- I mean, it's suspected that people like Albert Einstein and some other "Geniuses" were autistic and/or downs-syndrome. And individuals with autism and Trisomy-21 have even made important contributions to the world- in medicine, other sciences, mathematics, and countless other areas. So, using terms like that as insults is not only rude to those who actually have Austims, etc., but it's inacurate in many ways.
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F***K people who make fun of autism 😡
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I won't tolerate people making fun of autism
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Trisomy 21 is having 3 of the 21st chromosomes instead of the normal 2. Normally, a person has only two of each of the different chromosome pairs- one chromosome from their father, one from their mother. However, in the case of trisomy 21, an individual recieves two 21st chromosomes from one of their parents and only one from the other- resulting in three chromosomes of the 21st pair- Tri-Somy 21. The result of having Trisomy of the 21st chromosome is Down Syndrome. So, Trisomy 21 is the scientific name for Down Syndrome. You should maybe look some of these things up sometimes- some of these genetic anomolies- such as having an extra chromosome somewhere or having one chromosome instead of two in one of the pairs is an interesting area of study. But, yeah, Trisomy-21 is Down Syndrome.
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Downs people are not always stupid anyway. There are above average people with it even artist and professors!
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I know. There was a guy who went to the same karate dojo as me who had Downs; I didn't really get to know him since he was in the adult class and I was in the kid's class at the time, but he seemed like a pleasant guy from what I got to see.
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I'm autistic, and I would gladly celebrate the death of someone who had a habit of using autistic as an insult and didn't regret it and/or apologize before dying.
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I can understand why people would be offended by the word "autistic" as a slur. I've even seen one person use "aspie" as an insult. Not to mention that there was a forum on MAL of anime characters with autism and the whole cast of AOT was diagnosed by someone who didn't understand. Eren cause of his creepy eyes, Levi because of his OCD (though I think most fictional characters with OCD could have autism as well), Annie because she's "creepy," Mikasa because she's a possessive yandere character, and apparently Armin has "Shinji/ wuss syndrome." I haven't seen the show yet but I read a headcanon that Armin was autistic because he can't take jokes seriously, has social problems (my guess), and is intelligent. But on that same forum, someone said "Autism isn't cute." Then the person who started the forum said it's only cute in anime, but it's obnoxious IRL. I think that was rude of him to say because nobody chooses their disability, am I right?
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Sorry it took so long to respond.
Yea; that was definitely rude of that person to say that. Though, perhaps that person just doesn't understand what autism really is (and from their own go at diagnosing, they obviously don't). It's kind of obvious that, with that attitude, they've never met anyone with autism. So, they're ignorant and just going off of what they believe autism is.
If you want, you can link the person to AuTalkz if you think they might be open to learning about it (and if the forum allows it). There's also another comic which explains about the spectrum rather well, and Aspergers101 where they can learn about it from people who are on the spectrum and ask questions if they so desire.
Granted, they might just get annoyed that someone is attempting to educate them (most do, unfortunately).
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I don't have an account on Myanimelist and I doubt I ever will. People on there are EXTREMELY rude.
And thanks for the links for the comics! I'll check them out!
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At one point, I asked someone who used autistic as an insult how they can do a complete psychological and behavioral analysis and form a diagnosis based on my play style and performance in a game. If I remember correctly, they were silent for a while, then just told me, "cuz ur bad," or something along those lines.
Right, whatever you say...
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Intelligence is often the best counter to hive-mind stupidity.
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Very true.
(Why did my comment post twice?)
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At one point, I asked someone who used autistic as an insult how they can do a complete psychological and behavioral analysis and form a diagnosis based on my play style and performance in a game. If I remember correctly, they were silent for a while, then just told me, "cuz ur bad," or something along those lines.
Right, whatever you say...
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I report them whenever I see it. >.>;;
Sometimes, I'll even give them a lecture.
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yeah, that's always a good thing too, so they wouldn't keep on with it
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I can only hope that they stop. I wish they would teach tolerance in schools, or make a mandatory class on internet etiquette since parents have no clue what their kids are up to online.
And if they're adults who are doing it...well, shame on them.
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I have autism, but I can take insults. They don't offend me as much anymore.
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Guess you're just lucky on that front.
I don't get offended easily (unless it has to do with autism), but I do get hurt easily.
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Worst part is when someone fights homophobia/racism/other with ableism, by calling someone a "retarded" homophobic/sexist/other.
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Yea...I'd never encourage that sort of behavior; I don't think it's right to fight fire with fire.
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I have definitely noticed people on Youtube using "autistic" and "downs" as insults lately, and it shocked me. Especially when the comments had thumbs up. Sometimes it really does seem like they are replacing "retard" with "autistic," when neither are appropriate as insults.
There was one instance where a commenter called me retarded for telling them "downs" was an inappropriate insult. So I told him "sorry, I didn't mean to feed a troll."
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It's hard to correct idiots and trolls, yea.
The other day, I told someone in a Youtube comment that "autism" isn't an insult; I went on to tell them that it's not even an adjective and thus, can't even be an insult.
The person responded with a very childish: "kill ur self".
Rather than be offended, I laughed. I've stopped taking offense to nasty comments and rather just laugh at them (and occasionally feel bad for the person for being so close-minded).
...then I blocked them because I wasn't about to sink down to their level and engage in some juvenile flame war with an obvious troll (though, I was tempted to do something similar to what you posted). The internet can see someone being stupid/trolling/immature (them), and can see someone being mature/intelligent (me). It's strategy. ^^
My other strategy to combat trolls is to say nothing and just report them (as I do try very hard not to feed the trolls), but not when they're using "autistic" or "autism" as an insult.
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My definition of the word retard: Some one who's really nasty to you and done sinful things.
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My definition of it is literal, so it's sort of like:
"Mental Retardation; See 'Intellectual Disability'".
I've never ever used the word as an insult, not even to describe someone who is or was very nasty to me. There are other words for people like that, rather than a word which used to be known as "Mental Retardation" which describes a developmental/cognitive disorder. Frankly, I think using such terms as insults is worse than "bad language"/"swearing".
If nothing else (putting aside how offensive the word "retard" is), the usage of the word is/was completely incorrect.
It's the same with "autist/autistic" and "downs"; there are plenty of other words out there to use which are actually in the correct context. It's like using a noun as an adjective...actually, it is using a noun as an adjective.
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Not only recoloring, but also reediting? ^^ Looks good ^^
I agree! Autistic is NOT an insult -_- And those peoples are idiots... or at least dumb...
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Only this one is got a reedit, but thankies! The punch line/last couple panels of the original didn't really fit into Kairy's personality, particularly since I'm turning it into a series on autism education (so I need the characters to stay true to themselves).
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I absolutely HATE it when someone uses "autistic" as an insult!
It just makes me wanna jump into their computer screen and beat them to a pulp!
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I'm a pacifist (or, perhaps, passive-aggressive), so I wouldn't go that far...but I have scolded quite a few people whenever I see it. Sometimes, other people have already done so as well...other times, people start to join the bandwagon of scolding when I start it.
It shows me that many people know it's wrong, at least.
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Honestly, can ya really blame me!?
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No I don't I once decked a guy for calling my sister a retard for having autism
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and dont forget the jerks that actually know what the term means, but uses it anyways D:<
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