Friday, June 27, 2008

News of the weird?

This isn't a column in a humor publication or on a comedy show; it's a column in the Idaho Stateman, which says it was a 2008 Pulitzer finalist, and it put a reference to the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network in its "News of the Weird" column.

Inappropriate and stigmatizing? I think so.

It was a paragraph about the New York magazine article about the autism rights movement:

Ari Ne'eman, 20, who has Asperger's syndrome, has formed the Autistic Self Advocacy Network to persuade public opinion that those diagnosed with autism are not ill or disabled but merely different in the way they process information, in that social interaction is very difficult for them. Those without autism, say the activists, are merely 'neurotypical,' and a progressive society must be 'neurodiverse.' Notwithstanding such articulate advocates as Ne'eman, most medical professionals continue to consider autism a potentially devastating affliction, according to a June report in New York magazine.
This topic should not be included in a column with that title and that title should be dropped anyway. CNN has a podcast called "News of the Absurd," but it is satire about real news and doesn't stigmatize people (that I have seen yet). It has a lot of funny animal stories, etc.