Words Speak Volumes: Language Evolves For Good Reason
Our words need to accurately reflect reality as we currently understand it
Words speak volumes
When we say specific language is out-dated and unhelpful, it’s not simply because some people got up in their feelings about particular words, so we took the exact same meaning and just changed the name to pacify them.
If someone is allergic to peanuts, we don’t start calling them potatoes and let them eat the damn peanut-atoes.
Taking harmful terminology and tweaking the wording without actually changing the philosophy and meaning behind the words is just putting lipstick on a pig, as the saying goes.
We’re not playing dress-up with language in order to appease the “liberal snowflakes”. Ideas, definitions, and terms which have been identified as out-dated are such because they do not accurately reflect reality.
For example: Autism functioning labels, which many are now referring to as “levels” or “support needs”. Functioning labels are unhelpful because they do not accurately reflect the variability and complexity of Autistic human experiences, not because we don’t like the word “functioning”.
Taking it and dressing it up a little differently doesn’t change the intent and meaning behind the language.
When one truly understands the inadequacy and inaccuracy of limiting a person to a category, label, or level, then one can no longer use the terminology. Not because we’re trying to be politically correct, “woke”, or progressive, but because the word does not convey any useful information.
Dynamic and fluid
ADHD, Autism, and other divergent neurotypes are dynamic and fluid. This means our needs, capacity, flexibility, and “functioning” are constantly changing.
They vary moment-to-moment depending on the surrounding environment, who we’re with, our internal state, stress levels, and many other factors.
Reductionist and simplistic
To me, trying to reduce a human being to a “level” is kind of like asking a bookworm what their favourite book is. (Or perhaps my difficulty answering that question is another example of Autistic processing).
What’s my favourite book? That depends. What mood am I in? Am I tired, or needing intellectual stimulation? Do I want to learn or simply be entertained? How much time do I have to read? Will I be interrupted, or can I read the whole book in one sitting? (I could go on).
Am I “high functioning”? That depends.
Do I have to go to a grocery store, or some other crowded, bright, noisy, over-stimulating environment? Do I have to drive a long way? Have I been doing something that used up a lot of my emotional and mental resources, or am I feeling quite refreshed? (And so on and so forth).
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