You come across them all the time, lonely little voices full of teenage angst and enquiry. Naïve as kittens, as knowledgeable as a sage. The mix of overflowing hormones and naiveté, is breathtaking and transporting. Everything ahead of them, but full of trepidation and self doubt.
I pick up on them, because I have some "alerts" set for subject that particularly interest me. A couple of those "trigger" words are ‘autism,’ and ‘autistic.’ They intrigue me, although I do have a certain bias about "autism." Most commonly, they are used in a derogatory fashion – ‘he was being just sooooo autistic.’ It is common parlance for behaving in a manner that is not understood by the audience. Sometimes if the writer is in some distress, I will contact them, a gesture in the dark. The writer is often stupefied that anyone at all reads their blog at all. I can then point out that this ignorance can be remedied by the addition of a "sitemeter," for free. Most are bedazzled by this simple step. As I am only a six month newbie blogger myself, I am bedazzled too, but for different reasons.
1 hour ago
2 comments:
Hello,
Here's another reader :)
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You know I had never heard autistic as a derogatory term until I read this post but I guess it was bound to happen eventually especially with the increase in the diagnosis. Teenagers make fun of any difference as if somehow it will make them feel better about themselves and their changing bodies. I am so glad I am not a teenager any more.
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