Of Chickensh*t and Aspergers

So we just answered the question of what’s going to get Fox News to stop ranting about Ebola 24-7.

The answer:  chickensh*t.

Yesterday, Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic published a piece on the current state of US-Israeli relations.

Now, believe me, I enjoy a good Bibi insult as much as the next person (more even), although I do believe that things are already bad enough between Bibi and Obama that White House staffers don’t need to be adding more crap onto the fray by running off at the mouth to a journalist.

I am not going to delve into how bad the state of affairs between two world leaders and allies must be if The Atlantic, a magazine offering above-board cultural commentary for a century and a half has basically turned into a high brow version of TMZ with this sh*t, or more correctly chickensh*t.

What I am going to get into is one of the other words used to describe Bibi that Jeffrey Goldberg has quietly made a list of, one in particular.

“Aspergery”  (sic)

That’s totally and completely screwed up.  Aspergers is not an adjective.  It’s a developmental disorder.

Using it as an adjective or an insult is WRONG.

Look, I am the parent of a child on the autistic spectrum.  No one knows better than me that people with autism (or other developmental disorders) can be gifted, capable incredible human beings.

That’s not what this is about.

When someone is described as a chickensh*t, recalcitrant, myopic, reactionary, obtuse, blustering, pompous and Aspergery (sic).  That’s not a compliment.

That’s a straight up insult.

Using it as a way to describe someone in a negative way says that Aspergers is undesirable and even worse that it’s some kind of trait that can be changed, as if people who have Aspergers can just decide to change themselves somehow and their challenges will just fade away.

The use of Aspergers as a way to describe someone’s person, outside of a strict medical or developmental context is an insult to every single person on the autistic spectrum.  It’s derogatory, exclusionary, and hurtful.

People with Aspergers are often high functioning but more often than not, even with high functionality and no cognitive issues, many struggle physically, mentally and emotionally.  Some every single day of their lives.

If Bibi were described as still, would he be called Lou Gehrig-like or if he were bald would he be cancery?

Yet, I hear so many people use Aspergers and autism as adjectives.  It’s in rap lyrics and as punch lines in sitcoms, said in casual conversation all the time.  Just two weeks ago someone at work told me that she often describes people as autistic, and “it’s not an insult or anything.”

Bull.

People need to just get it already that Autism is a serious thing and stop using it to malign and discredit.

Calling Bibi “Aspergery” is an insult to every single person on the autistic spectrum.

Come to think of it, the chickens and sh*t should be up in arms too.