This post contains mentions of the Holocaust, ableism, and eugenics. Please do not read if you are sensitive to these topics.
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There have been conversations regarding whether the term Asperger’s should still be used in the autism community. This post will explain the biggest issue I and other people have with the label. There’s no way to gently segue into this so I’m just going to start.
The term Asperger’s was coined by an actual Nazi. Hans Asperger worked with the Nazis during the Holocaust. He saved some children who he deemed intelligent enough by giving them the label of Asperger’s and sent the rest of the kids to die.
Some people call him a hero for saving kids during the Holocaust, but he sent children to be murdered because he saw them as genetically inferior. He saw some of us as a “hardly bearable burden” to our families. He believed that they should be put out of our misery.
I do not believe allistics should use the term Asperger’s to describe an autistic person. I do not believe that autistic people should use it for themselves either. However, I’m not saying that you should assume someone is a bad person for using it. I figure that most do not know the history. There are autistics who use the term for various reasons even knowing the history, which I heavily disagree with.
And I’m not the only one who feels this way. I learned this from listening to Jewish autistic people speak on the subject. If you are not Jewish, it is best to listen to those who have the authority on the matter.
Here is a video of a Jewish autistic person explaining how use of this label harms not only Jewish autistics, but autistic people as a whole. She also makes a very good point about Asperger’s being a functioning label.
Here is an article about Hans Asperger being a Nazi.
Some of the information here is correct. However, Asperger did not name the condition he studied after himself. He actually called it “autistic psychopathy,” back when psychopathy meant something different than it does today. A psychologist named Lorna Wing named Asperger’s Syndrome after him decades before it was clear that he was a Nazi. (Source: Neurotribes by Steve Silberman, paperback edition)
To be absolutely clear, I don’t think what Asperger did was okay. It’s just important to be accurate in informational posts.
This post contains mentions of the Holocaust, ableism, and eugenics. Please do not read if you are sensitive to these topics.
—————————————
There have been conversations regarding whether the term Asperger’s should still be used in the autism community. This post will explain the biggest issue I and other people have with the label. There’s no way to gently segue into this so I’m just going to start.
The term Asperger’s was coined by an actual Nazi. Hans Asperger worked with the Nazis during the Holocaust. He saved some children who he deemed intelligent enough by giving them the label of Asperger’s and sent the rest of the kids to die.
Some people call him a hero for saving kids during the Holocaust, but he sent children to be murdered because he saw them as genetically inferior. He saw some of us as a “hardly bearable burden” to our families. He believed that they should be put out of our misery.
I do not believe allistics should use the term Asperger’s to describe an autistic person. I do not believe that autistic people should use it for themselves either. However, I’m not saying that you should assume someone is a bad person for using it. I figure that most do not know the history. There are autistics who use the term for various reasons even knowing the history, which I heavily disagree with.
And I’m not the only one who feels this way. I learned this from listening to Jewish autistic people speak on the subject. If you are not Jewish, it is best to listen to those who have the authority on the matter.
Here is a video of a Jewish autistic person explaining how use of this label harms not only Jewish autistics, but autistic people as a whole. She also makes a very good point about Asperger’s being a functioning label.
Here is an article about Hans Asperger being a Nazi.
I genuinely think empaths who believe all people with npd and aspd are inherently evil are completely missing the point of everything.
Empathy isn’t the answer to being a good person, nor is having a specific Brain type.
Do I have hyper empathy? Yes.
Have I done bad things in the past? Also yes.
I used to be an exclusionist and would also deliberately hurt others feelings just so they would leave me alone. All while having hyper empathy, and even then, BECAUSE I felt mental pain while hurting people, I got more upset and hurt MORE people.
I understand why y’all are angry at “narcissists” I really do. We have very overwhelming emotions and it’s so easy and appealing to use a scapegoat and say “this is all their fault.”
But please, it hurts everyone in that situation. People have NPD and/or ASPD either because of the environment they were raised in or genetics. They cannot chose Thire brain type.
And even then, a lot of the people yall lable narccists are often not even having the disorder in the first place. And to arm chair diagnose someone with negative intentions is very ablesit.
The empaths who preach that all NPD and ASPDs are evil are the ones directly contributing to them not being able to get the help they need to be a good person.
When you search for support for narcissists on google, you only ever find resources for people AROUND narcissists and how to deal with them.
How about he cut out the middle man, and preach that people with NPD and ASPD deserve treatment for thir disorder and support them on their Journey?
Think about it. This would stop a lot of potential damage caused by people with these disorders who don’t get the correct help they very much need.
Empathy hardly makes you a good person. You make you a good person. As someone who’s neurodivergent, I’ve done a lot of things for people I don’t understand and never will why they are helpful to them. I do it because I respect them. Not because I would feel the same way if they did it to me, because I woudlnt.
Like, I brearly understand the consept of giving cards to people for their birthday, but I do it anyway because they like it and I want them to be happy.
This is known as compassion. Doing something for someone because you care about them, not because you feel their emotions. this is something people with low or no empathy can do and especially when given correct guidance.
When my mental health improved, I stopped being an ass. I learned that not everyone was out to get me and that I didn’t need to scare them off. I learned that people deserve to feel happy and I wanted to make that happen.
People with NPD and ASPD are often not in a good please mentally, as these disorders often come from truama and or abuse. Helping these people rebuild their mental health after such a horrible experience can definitely improve their behavior. I know it improved mine.
So please, to some of you empaths who support eugenics ageisnt mentally ill poeple, understand what you are doing is wrong and counterproductive ageisnt everyone’s well being
