Its hard cause in every other fascit of language we commonly use lose associations. Consider a thing being "cool"
So any time we we develop a word for a thing we immediately start abusing it. Consider that fool was originally a medical diagnosis we said so much it lost all meaning and then we switched to other words for impaired cognative function that we misuse.
So we have that drive and the entire system to fight against so it feels like cleaning up our language is a huge task. Really isn't tho.
I guarantee that at some point in the next couple decades the word "autistic" will have been used as an insult enough times that a new term will have to be created. The underlying cause is that the overwhelming majority of society still sees any kind of neurodivergence as a bad thing, and until that changes the "euphemism treadmill" will continue to turn.
The underlying cause is that the overwhelming majority of society still sees any kind of neurodivergence as a bad thing
I think it is more simply that people need a derogatory shorthand for out-groups. Concervatives called Obama a Nazi. Liberals called Sanders a racist. Leftists call each other liberals.
None of it means anything. At least, not in the literal sense.
This is true, but why do you suppose people choose to use medical terms for neurodivergent people as their slur of choice if not an inherent prejudice against neurodivergence?
Because divergence creates natural out-groups to model your derision after.
Even then, it really just boils down to perspective. I've seen terms like "breeder", "redneck", and "normie" used as slurs. Any out-group will do. Medical terms tend to imply weakness or dysfunction which just happen to attract bullies like flies to honey. But then so does sexual proclivity (or the lack thereof), racial and gender traits, academic performance ("dropout"/"failure"/"loser"), economic standing, fashion sense, preferred hobby, political affiliation... you name it.
In internet forums, where people tend to pride themselves on intelligence and social skills, neurodivergence just becomes the most obvious characteristic to attack.
It's a mix of "euphemism treadmill" and adapting terminology as we better understand conditions. Example: Discovering that autism is along a spectrum and overlaps strongly with ADHD.
Its hard cause in every other fascit of language we commonly use lose associations. Consider a thing being "cool"
So any time we we develop a word for a thing we immediately start abusing it. Consider that fool was originally a medical diagnosis we said so much it lost all meaning and then we switched to other words for impaired cognative function that we misuse.
So we have that drive and the entire system to fight against so it feels like cleaning up our language is a huge task. Really isn't tho.
I guarantee that at some point in the next couple decades the word "autistic" will have been used as an insult enough times that a new term will have to be created. The underlying cause is that the overwhelming majority of society still sees any kind of neurodivergence as a bad thing, and until that changes the "euphemism treadmill" will continue to turn.
I think it is more simply that people need a derogatory shorthand for out-groups. Concervatives called Obama a Nazi. Liberals called Sanders a racist. Leftists call each other liberals.
None of it means anything. At least, not in the literal sense.
This is true, but why do you suppose people choose to use medical terms for neurodivergent people as their slur of choice if not an inherent prejudice against neurodivergence?
Because divergence creates natural out-groups to model your derision after.
Even then, it really just boils down to perspective. I've seen terms like "breeder", "redneck", and "normie" used as slurs. Any out-group will do. Medical terms tend to imply weakness or dysfunction which just happen to attract bullies like flies to honey. But then so does sexual proclivity (or the lack thereof), racial and gender traits, academic performance ("dropout"/"failure"/"loser"), economic standing, fashion sense, preferred hobby, political affiliation... you name it.
In internet forums, where people tend to pride themselves on intelligence and social skills, neurodivergence just becomes the most obvious characteristic to attack.
It's a mix of "euphemism treadmill" and adapting terminology as we better understand conditions. Example: Discovering that autism is along a spectrum and overlaps strongly with ADHD.