Posts Tagged ‘autism’

Very Different Responses to a Condition as an Identity

November 28, 2021 — Medical terms can carry a lot of baggage. Leprosy, cancer, diabetes, autism, and obesity are just a few examples. What they all have in common is that they describe conditions that can cause a lot of trouble, but either don’t or didn’t have an easy resolution. So to greater or lesser degrees, people attached stigma […]

Masked Lapwing

When Is a Condition a Disease and Not an Identity?

May 8, 2019 — Identity is every bit as tricky as it is important. It gets even trickier when an identity is the target of bias. Another layer of complexity comes with the conviction that we can choose our own identities. Does a condition or physical characteristic define me? Is it an identity to claim or a challenge to […]