Cheese - Never Forgotten: a Foster's Home Community

Voxxyn · 11-26-2006, 04:23 PM

I know it wasn't directed to the Asperger "type" of autism, but I still found it VERY offensive. "Idiot savant" has been a derogatory term with which to classify autistic people, which was greatly fueled by the 1988 film Rain Man. I thought it was a wonderful film... but it also basically spread the stereotype that ALL autistic people were exactly like Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of Raymond Babbit--which is NOT the truth.

I'll be honest with everybody. Autism/Asperger's in general is a very delicate issue to me. I'm part of the "autistic spectrum", I know what it's like to be misunderstood, picked on and bullied by my school peers, and I do not appreciate the continued ignorance and negativity that surrounds autism. ESPECIALLY the continued confusing of Asperger's with the Rain Man stereotype. Someone on the ToonZone forums suggested that Cheese was based on children with Asperger's, which prompted a very angry response from me.

I'm sorry for going so off-topic, but I had to say that. I don't want to discuss this anymore.

Back to Cheese: for his next appearance, I hope he's tagged up with someone who, unlike Frankie, actually deserves to be annoyed and driven mad. Duchess and/or Terrance would be nice. I still stand by my idea of Terrance having to babysit that adorable bundle of yellow annoyance.

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11-26-2006, 04:23 PM	#14
Voxxyn Banned Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Zebes Posts: 1,069	I know it wasn't directed to the Asperger "type" of autism, but I still found it VERY offensive. "Idiot savant" has been a derogatory term with which to classify autistic people, which was greatly fueled by the 1988 film Rain Man. I thought it was a wonderful film... but it also basically spread the stereotype that ALL autistic people were exactly like Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of Raymond Babbit--which is NOT the truth. I'll be honest with everybody. Autism/Asperger's in general is a very delicate issue to me. I'm part of the "autistic spectrum", I know what it's like to be misunderstood, picked on and bullied by my school peers, and I do not appreciate the continued ignorance and negativity that surrounds autism. ESPECIALLY the continued confusing of Asperger's with the Rain Man stereotype. Someone on the ToonZone forums suggested that Cheese was based on children with Asperger's, which prompted a very angry response from me. I'm sorry for going so off-topic, but I had to say that. I don't want to discuss this anymore. Back to Cheese: for his next appearance, I hope he's tagged up with someone who, unlike Frankie, actually deserves to be annoyed and driven mad. Duchess and/or Terrance would be nice. I still stand by my idea of Terrance having to babysit that adorable bundle of yellow annoyance.