Using "autistic" as a derogatory term; please don't

[Pemalite]

vivster said:

It's homophobic seal all over again.

Language is volatile and meanings change. Which is why no one thinks about homosexuals when they call something lame "gay".

It all really depends on the context you leverage such words in... As often certain derogatory homophobic-insults are leveraged as greetings in the LGBT community... (I know this, because I am part of said community.)
But if you have someone with a little more malice in their intentions, such wording can be extremely derogatory and in some instances, harmful rather than a friendly greeting.

curl-6 said:

I'm not calling for blanket moderation of the word or anything, just asking that people remember before posting that we do have autistic members here, and that a little bit of courtesy goes a long way.

Treat others the way you wish to be treated.

vivster said:

Do poor, stupid or fat people get upset when you call other people by those descriptors? What if I called you a woman? Will women get upset? They probably would but that's not the point.

Again... Context is key. There is a time and place for everything.

Dark_Lord_2008 said:

If we live in a democratic country we should be entitled to voice our opinions. Back in the good old days we used to have freedom and democracy. It now looks like we are living in a dystopian totalitarian world as predicted in  George Orwell's 1984.

Being in a Democratic country doesn't entitle you to freedom of speech, they are separate, unrelated constructs.
Just like some dictatorships do allow freedom of speech.

TheBird said:
And I can say I seriously don't care about your anti-free speech policing

Freedom of Speech doesn't actually entitle you to state whatever you desire without repercussion, there is a crap-ton of restrictions on free speech.

And you should care.

In short... Just be nice to others. It's not hard.

VGPolyglot said:

In my opinion, if calling people racists, sexists, etc. isn't allowed on this site, that calling people autistic should also be forbidden.

I do actually agree. Calling anyone anything that is remotely derogatory shouldn't be allowed.
I would like to think we are all mature enough to forgo such rhetoric anyway.

CGI-Quality said:

So, here's what I'll do. From this post on, I want genuine responses to this. How do you feel about a Global (Sitewide) restriction on words like these? This is simply to know where many of you stand.

Well. I am of the belief we shouldn't need to ban specific words.... Because a single word can be applied multiple ways to a situation.
Rather we should place a ban on how words are used.

I.E. Ban using any word as an insult, regardless of how benign it may initially seem.
Of course that does mean that there is a degree of interpretation on our behalf.