Expert: Ettina - 3/27/2009

Question
QUESTION: Why. why do jerks say humans arnt human if ther human.
repeditovly stupid "phyciotrists" say i have ODD ADHD Autism and Aspergers. i grew up with horrible ways. they judge on a standerd perfect kid. no one is perfect. i am so inraged and feel so much hate to those people. i think the idiots who say things like "If your child is bullied and picked on he or she may have aspergers.".
i am so much smarter compered to the other smart people where i live. they are so uncivilizized and people think im crazy. if other poeple who are like me who are accused of haveing said things E-mail me at

people like you should come back to realitty and join us in the way we live. after that hell hold than tell me what i do and dont have.

ANSWER: I don't know the answer. I know I've been the recipient of that sort of thing myself (for example people say that reacting emotionally to music and having sexual desire are part of being human, and neither of those things apply to me) and it hurts.
I call myself autistic in the same sense as how some people say they are gay or whatever - as a description. But others use it as a judgement, saying that certain categories of people have 'something wrong' with them, and that's a terrible thing. Our society should be much more accepting of diversity. It makes me so sad thinking of kids growing up being told they're broken, that something is wrong with the kind of person they are. It's just wrong.
Prejudice shows up in many ways. Many children learn prejudice young, bullying and isolating other kids because they're 'different'. Adults also show prejudice, including psychologists who try to identify what the 'right kind of person' is and view anyone else as having something wrong with them. Autistic and other atypical people suffer so much from prejudice, being bullied, rejected, taught to hide who they are, segregated, controlled, and so on. I think everyone has certain basic rights, like the right to accept themselves and be who they are, the right to have control over their own lives, and so on, but many others deny disabled people those rights.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: so you do know you are also calling your self that stuff. you are also a physciatrist.
all the levels there are, humans are 100% the lowest. we are the only thing that knows we are going to die someday.we are the only "living" thing that kills each other for fun and so on. we clasify even so much a false god to blame things on. we casify our selves as smart and good and hi-tech. we are so low an atom of a molowcule laghs at us in pitty. why dont join the fight.
stop stupid judgment. all those who are in the fight need to link up and go to a spot to protest and riot.
that is how america works. we grow we attack we weekin, stupify, re-arange, screw up, kill, then make fun of. America is hobos. poor stupid ass-hole chikens rolling around with-out a head wings or legs.

Don't You Agree?

Answer
Firstly, I'm not a psychiatrist. I'm a autistic rights activist. I'd like to become a psychiatrist mainly to try to fix the problems I see in psychiatry.
And just because other people say that autism is something wrong with a person, doesn't mean that when I call myself autistic I'm saying there's something wrong with me. That's because I don't agree with that view. I use the term autistic simply to describe a collection of features that some people share, not as a judgement.
I think there's a lot of bad in humanity, but there's also a lot of good that I've seen, and that gives me hope. There were times that I thought humans were bad in general (and wished I were a cat instead) but my parents stood by me and helped me and showed me how people can also be good.
There are many ways to try to change society. Some do so by protesting in a very public and obvious way. I'd like to do that if there's a protest in my area (although I do not condone violence and I'd be opposed to a riot - and riots don't work, anyway, just get people to vilify the ones rioting). I'm also trying to change society by talking to people and showing them another way to look at differences, because the opinions of every person put together are what make up the opinions of society. After all, society is just a bunch of people.
I'm a Canadian, and in this country we often shake our heads at the United States for thinking that war is always the solution to everything - declaring 'war on this' 'war on that' such as the war on drugs. It's a problematic concept. Not everything is black and white, good and evil, etc etc, and thinking that way causes so many problems. My view is more like Gandhi - be the change you want to see in the world, and resist without violence like a horde of people just standing and refusing to step aside for the 'masters'.