“I don’t think it’s a good thing to always label a child,” they say; and, “Labels are for soupcans.”
And similar clichés.
They say this confidently, smilingly, in front of a panel of actual autistic people who have learned at last to wear their ‘autism’ label with fierce and comforting pride.
What do they mean? Why do they say this? What’s the premise, the backstory, the whole message?
“Let’s not label the child. Let’s just continue to stigmatise the label so that nobody will be granted that label and therefore nobody will need support. Because without the label, the condition doesn’t exist and if the condition doesn’t exist, the support isn’t needed.”
Did I get it?