So does pissing in the ocean, technically, but I hope you still understood what I meant. This scale of action won't alter the course of world affairs in an appreciable way, and yet is still demonstrably positive.
For all you know, people reading this post are autistic, or have an autistic sibling (or child!). Nobody comes to HN to feel bad.
I have no horse in this race (not the original commenter) and I support the idea that people should speak freely without fear of off-topic chastisement, but it just seems a little more good hearted to find a different word.
Suggest one? Is there another word to describe the inability to detect the subtle greater context and meaning of an interaction and instead obsess over the literal meaning of individual words?
It's tech, there is very high chance nearly everyone is on the spectrum in some way, and if fact its a trait that gives you advantages (but comes with some drawbacks depending to the degree you have it). It's almost self deprecating humor, we all have tics/obsessive behaviors where we miss the forest for the trees during social interactions where we know what they "meant" but it's not exactly "what they said" and so we give each other grief for it so we can try to do better when interacting with others.
There is nothing wrong with actually being autistic, but certain characteristics we should try to keep in check.
Let's be candid here. Usually, people who use "autistic" as a pejorative really mean "clueless," or worse, "addle-brained." Both are far better alternatives, and neither alternative will collaterally insult autistic people. If you want to insult someone, go ahead. But don't accidentally insult a whole bunch of other people in the process.
If there is nothing wrong with being autistic, then it's poor communication to use it as a pejorative. And if there is something wrong with being autistic, then it's cruel to use it as a pejorative. Either way, there are other, better ways to express oneself.
I'm not going to discuss a blanket assessment of all tech industry workers as "on the spectrum." That's not my area of expertise.
I had a friend who is really short. I used to tease him a little about his height (we didn't exactly see eye to eye), but one day I noticed that he seemed hurt by my jokes so I stopped.
Autistic people have enough social challenges and confidence issues. You'd have to have ice water in your veins to intentionally add to that. They deal with enough difficulty as it is.
Sometimes it's about sensing how the other guy feels. The coolest guys try to draw attention to their friends' good qualities, big up the confidence of those around them, and help their peers stand taller. Obama did this once in a crowd that said a cutesy "aww" when a fourth-grader came up to ask a question; the President immediately interrupted the crowd, said that the boy was a big guy, and suggested that they let him speak.
Clueless isn't what they really mean, clueless means you have no idea what's going on. You can know what's going on but obsess over minute details or exact accuracy of statements that have no real bearing on the larger conversation. Clueless doesn't describe the tendency to do that. People call others obsessive compulsive all the time, no one's defending the self esteems of people with actual diagnosed OCD, because its understood its said with some levity and not being seriously derogatory to someone with serious issues with it.
Yes, I recognize the irony in pointing this out. I also recognize the irony we're even having this conversation because its due to the exact tendency the person was trying to describe, when in the grand scheme, no one cares.
Addendum: To be clearer, it's usually short hand for the spectrum, or more accurately someone on the shallower end of the spectrum (like a Sheldon or a Sherlock/House to draw from pop culture versions of it) whose an adult who can deal with criticism, not like that kid or someone whose closer to what people think of as "Rain Man".
There is even someone in the comments whose Autistic who says they're fine with it, they're adults, give them more credit. the coddling betrays a lower opinion of them then an average person.
I'd still recommended not using that word this way.
I'm afraid it helps cement a certain understanding in the readers.
Or, perhaps more importantly, it will be used as training data for someones AI based HR startup which will go on to filter out perfectly good candidates for being "autistic".
> Or, perhaps more importantly, it will be used as training data for someones AI based HR startup which will go on to filter out perfectly good candidates for being "autistic".
I did not expect that point... crafting comments with future ML efforts in mind. I don't think we should care that much about it - you can't feel personally responsible for every idiot using overhyped technology to do stupid things at scale.
I read the post as it's intended (which I agree with) but the pejorative use of a human disorder is both unnecessary and adds negative value to those with or are impacted with autism. It's loose usage to colour a point encourages its usage in natural language, degrading people with the disability. Basically it's not needed and has detrimental effects - we can do better.
I'm autistic and I personally couldn't care less. In fact I sometimes call some my friends and coworkers that when they're being OCD, which usually gets a chuckle out of them.
Yeah, it would have been more correct to use autism spectrum disorder[1] rather than vanilla autism.
Features of these disorders include social deficits and communication difficulties, stereotyped or repetitive behaviors and interests, sensory issues, and in some cases, cognitive delays.
