March 6, 2007
Differently-Labeled People Getting Along
Kristina Chew of AutismVox has an always-interesting blog, with a perspective that’s different from mine (and that’s one of the reasons that I like her blog). Here’s Dr. Chew on her hope of labeling leading to a positive end:
Charlie’s [her son’s] diagnosis happened much earlier than either mine or Jim’s [her husband]: He was just over two years old when we heard “he has autism.†These were hard words to hear and yet they were also a relief, a confirmation of what we had suspected and had, perhaps, known for a long time.
So: “Gifted†mother, ADHD father, autistic son. But rather than call us a family of labels, I would say we are a family of difference, and we all fit right in.
Within her family, that sort of harmony is possible, and fortunately for all, achieved.
I am pessimistic that those labeled — and more accurately those doing the labeling — often intend for us all to take siesta together. If it were not so, and mistaken and nearsighted teachers, administrators, employers, and others did not misuse labels to the detriment of those labeled, then the world would not need so many lawyers. The world does need lawyers, however, because people will misinterpret — accidentally or intentionally — the definition and meaning of a label. “Autism? Here’s what autism is, means, and requires….” It’s not that the label is wrong; it’s the number of ‘professionals’ of all stripes who wrongly administer to those thus labeled.
That’s nothing that Dr. Chew does not understand, of course; doubtless she and I both know it too well. The world has too few Charlie’s Moms to make it a safe place; if a lawyer here or there will advocate for those less well-situated, then we’ve done something right. As a hope, I see the point of those with different labels — and seen merely as different, not labeled — living together happily; as a practical matter, though some people are labeled to their relief, others are labeled to their detriment, and live unhappily thereafter.
