this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2025
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Autism

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Terminology: on the spectrum (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 3 days ago by port443@discuss.tchncs.de to c/autism@lemmy.world
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To me, it feels like it is some sort of desperate attempt to not say 'autistic'/'autism', but I don't fully understand why. Most people I've seen using 'on the spectrum' are either actively questioning whether they or someone they are close with are autistic, or think it but don't care all that much. Personally, I find referring to autism as 'the spectrum' a bit offensive, as the only reason I can find to use the term is to forcibly emphasize that whoever is referred to (hereafter: 'me', although sometimes I am a spectator) is not like other (higher needs, lower perceived status) autistics. They suggest that they think badly of autism this way, and ungroup me from that group so it's not insulting (but it is, to the entire group and thus to me, who is, could be argued, also insulted directly). Although I know that basically everyone perceives people unalike themselves as 'worse' (human nature sadly) and it isn't on purpose, it is still very insulting to me. I already knew I was a joke to most people, so please don't make fun of me for things I have trouble with. Am I wrong about the reason people use the term? Do you agree or disagree and most importantly: why?

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[–] OhNoMoreLemmy@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 days ago (2 children)

It's literally in the clinical name.

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd

Broadly there's two important reasons for why it's called this, when it used to be either Asperger's or autism.

  1. Asperger was a Nazi and actively involved in the state sanctioned murder of autistic children.
  2. Medically it's a bit dumb. There's no neat dividing line between people with Asperger's and people with autism, and giving people that could be diagnosed either way as autistic or having Asperger's, different diagnoses changed their access to support.

So it's called a spectrum to recognize that there's a wide range of symptoms and not everyone presents in the same way or requires the same support.

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