Autism

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“	I'm POSSIBLY retarded...	”
Chris on his autism, Mumble chat 23 February 2009

“	I'M RETARDED	”
Chris, CWC - Exposing Jeff

“	It sometimes takes me a long while before I can fully comprehend and make an appropriate reaction. In another word, I am Sometimes Retarded.	”
Chris, on himself.

Bionic the Hedgehog "conquering" autism (and "ATcI3S") by confusing windmills with watermills.

Chris at war with autism (or "ATSIMU") in China. Too bad you can't fight cannons with fangs.

Autism is a spectrum of neurological disorders involving the impairment of social interaction and communication. Informally, autism may be subdivided into separate classifications based on the intelligence and degree of function the autistic individual possesses, although these subdivisions are not recognized by the DSM-IV-TR or the ICD-10.

Christian Weston Chandler has built much of his identity around having high-functioning autism (HFA), which is vaguely defined as the ability to live in the mainstream world as opposed to being institutionalized, near-normal comprehension, and about-average intellect (although it isn't actually a formal clinical diagnosis so much as a grade of severity). As such, he tries to have it both ways: you can't blame him for his shortcomings because he has autism, but you can't treat him like he's mentally handicapped and slow in the mind because he's high-functioning and therefore, nearly normal. It's pretty clear to the most casual of observers, however, that Chris is basically non-functioning.

Chris didn't want to be in special ed because he isn't retarded, yet he expects every single teacher he comes in contact with to have an expert understanding of autism spectrum disorders. He perceives bias against autistic people (read: HIM, he doesn't care about anyone else) everywhere, and assumes anyone opposing his will hates him for his mental condition and are playing "everyone's favorite game, Kick the Autistic."

In case you don't already want to punch him, he's also stated he "Helped cultivate the First Generation of Autistic People." Obviously, there was never such a thing as autism until Chris came into existence.

Background

It is not currently clear exactly how he came to be diagnosed as "autistic", other than that he was diagnosed at the age of 6, receives government disability checks (his "monthly tugboat") for this mental disability, and he and his parents have been using his condition as a crutch from almost day one of his diagnosis.

In a CWCipedia mailbag, Chris claims that when he was young, his parents were told he would never be able to read, write or function on a normal level. He and his doctors have now upgraded his condition to "high-functioning," but apparently his incredibly abysmal upbringing has actually allowed it to progress to mid-functioning at best.

According to Chris, his autism manifested when he was locked in his room by a babysitter around age 1 1/2. After bawwwing for hours, he emerged from his lair unable to talk, which Chris says was when "God put the mute button on me." However, most specialists claim that the symptoms of autism begin to show around that age anyway, so Chris is full of it.

Chris's symptoms

Many trolls dispute the exact diagnosis of Chris's mental condition, on the basis that his observed behavior is inconsistent with various autistic people. CWC-related forums (and other forums, for that matter) have seen numerous testimonials about people who are undeniably autistic but nowhere near as fucked-up as Chris has turned out to be, and in general these forums do not consider Chris to be an example of what all autistic people are like. Quite often, autistics are indeed able to learn social skills to some small degree in the context of intellectual learning. Some can even come off as being completely neurotypical because they have come to realize that, while they believe "normal" behavior has a tenuous definition, they must adapt to others' expectations of what's acceptable if they wish to succeed in life. Chris, however, appears to demonstrate a willful ignorance of normalcy, with a sense of entitlement coupled with an expectation that others should not only understand his ridiculous idiosyncrasies in the first place, but also accept them or even force them upon others.

A layperson may come to the conclusion that Chris is not autistic, and he's just a regular (albeit idiotic) guy with a few "eccentricities" (more like psychotic), or jump to the other extreme and conclude that Chris has full-blown mental retardation. However, Chris's characteristics are most likely a combination of bad parenting and genuine autism. The following are aspects of Chris's character that clearly match autistic tendencies:

Awkward body language, as Chris displays here, is a common trait of autism.

• Chris lacks a conversational filter. He calls this honesty; normal people call it social retardation. Without provocation he will tell you about his pinkeye and DIRTY, CRAPPED BRIEFS, and how he is a virgin with rage.

• Chris speaks in a monotone, as evidenced by his many videos. His attempts to sound expressive (see CWC's Message for Ivy) are rather creepy and unnatural. He sounds a little like he is reading off an offscreen cue card. On Song of Christian, however, he sounds a bit more normal, if also a bit like Conker.

• Chris can't show emotions well with facial expressions and body language. See his statement to the women of the world if you like having Chris haunt your dreams. His inability to display emotions on his face has been called a "dead fish expression." When he does attempt to have an expression, it looks very cartoonish.

• Chris has very poor facial and vocal recognition skills. Julie was a 13 year old boy using an obvious falsetto and Chris fell for it. In one chat, the boy made no attempt to disguise his voice and Chris was none the wiser, disclosing personal sexual details. Two images of different people were used to represent Blanca Weiss, and Chris didn't notice. In an AIM Chat with Vanessa Hudgens, she sent him a link to pictures of Megan Fox, and Chris complimented her on them. It should be noted that the two have entirely different skin colors.

• Chris lacks empathy for others. See his plea to Clyde. His suggestion after the loss of Ryan Cash was "find yourself a girlfriend." He asks for ED to please understand him, because he is an "innocent victim of misunderstanding"—he wants empathy from others, but he can't return the favor. This lack of empathy is only magnified by his parents having coddled him as a child and given him no real reason to empathize with other people.

• Chris is extremely gullible. One need only see his extensive list of sweethearts to see just how easily fooled he is. In addition, not only has he been fooled by trolls pretending to be girls, he has fallen for trolls pretending to be Shigeru Miyamoto and approaching him about making a Sonichu game.

• Chris has trouble developing relationships. This is a common trait among people in general, but Chris is particularly inept at socializing. As stated above, he has no filter on what he says and cannot empathize with others, key things needed for interacting with people. He also pretty much just talks about himself.

• Chris thinks in absolutes and in terms of clearly defined steps in order to do something. He thinks there must be sex on or by the third date. He describes his sadness in terms of his heart level and briefly mentioned a Scale of Respect. He feels that if he just knows the correct steps to getting a sweetheart, he will be able to find one easily. His crash-course in dating and suggestions to Blanca assume that a relationship should follow a rigidly predetermined progression instead of a natural flow.

• Chris tends to use solipsistic neologisms; that is, he creates new words that only he himself understands and expects other people to comprehend them. Many articles on this very wiki have been written to explain the resulting CWC-isms.

• Chris exhibits compulsive and repetitive behavior. He wears the same shirt for days at a time, and uses the same terms and exact phrases frequently. He feels the need to refer to people by their full names, plainly visible when he talks about himself, Clyde Cash, or Adam Stackhouse.

• Chris has an extremely narrow range of interests. He seems to only give a damn about video games, prowling for his next sweetheart, his initials, and Sonichu, so much to the point where he practically places him somewhere in everything he creates. He often wishes to combine two interests.

• Chris's given reasons for his love of My Little Pony are also indicative of autism. Autistics are drawn to physical sensations which give them a feeling of being 'grounded', and this is probably why Chris finds stroking the hair of these toys so "therapeutic".

• Chris lacks social awareness. One notable instance, as revealed in the autism papers, was when two African American ladies were speaking to Chris about his love quest, when Chris politely told them that they could not be his girlfriend because they were not white. Based on the report of the examiner, Chris believed he was merely informing the ladies as to his prerequisites for a potential sweetheart while oblivious to the fact he was being racially insensitive.

• Believe it or not, the gastrointestinal problems are also indicative of autism.

Oddly enough, he claims to have conquered his autism, or "coming out of [his] autistic shell," but frequently brings it up and uses it as an excuse for just about everything.

Chris on the causes of autism

Although the root causes of autism are still a subject of considerable research and debate, there's a strong consensus that the condition largely arises from genetic factors. Children born to parents of relatively advanced age — parents like Bob and Barbara Chandler, who were respectively over 50 and over 40 when Chris was born — are believed to be particularly at risk.

During his phone call with Kacey's father, Chris swore up and down that heredity has nothing to do with autism: "It's a myth. That's a myth. Autism is not genetic." Kacey corrected his misconception not long afterward, but given Chris's attachment to all sorts of demented beliefs, it probably didn't stick for very long.

In the past, Chris has blamed his autism on an abusive babysitter from his childhood. Mailbag 12, however, saw Chris actually reveal where Autism comes from:

“	Autism is Not Genetic; it comes from a shot the doctor's optionally give to the child after birth.	”
Chris, being completely idiotic once again

It seems likely that Chris subscribes to the persistent, but thoroughly debunked theory linking autism to certain childhood vaccinations, although it's possible that his towering persecution complex caused him to imagine a similar conspiracy theory all on his own.

Autism cured?

Autism appears to be in Chris's future...

In a moment that is sure to shock the mental health community, Chris confided in his gal pal Sarah May that, as of 04 March 2009, he has overcome his autism once and for all:

Christopher C.W.C.: I'm not going to blame it on my autism; I have realized that I am over that now.

Sarah May: Over what?

Sarah May: Over your autism?

Christopher C.W.C.: yes

Sarah May: . . .

Christopher C.W.C.: anyway, what is it that you want to do?

Sarah May: Christian

Sarah May: Are you serious?

Sarah May: Autism is not influenza

Sarah May: You don't 'get over it'

Christopher C.W.C.: I've broken out of my autistic shell, and I am better able to socialize in public, with the past practices online.

Chris claims during the same chat that he may not be making sense due to a virus, easily allowing for him to retract this. Fortunately, Chris has discovered that stress is a more socially popular scapegoats for his personal shortcomings. Of course, people learn to manage stress but what do you expect?

As of May 2009, Chris seems to have regained Autism and is back to blaming it for all his problems, seemingly believing that Autism is as easy to shake/regain as the common flu. Or he forgot that he even had the above conversation and is just retarded.

November 2009 saw Chris claiming to have cured his autism again as stated at the end of part 2 on his Sonichu Powerpoint presentations (where he describes himself as a "high functioning autistic recovered"). A month later, Chris says in the revised ED article in response to ED's claim he's "suffering" from autism, he comments "which I still am for real."

Chris vs. Asperger's

See also: Asperger's
If there's anything Chris hates more than homos or trolls, it's anyone who dares try to steal his limelight. The worst of those are anyone who has Asperger's Syndrome or are deemed "low-functioning". As such, Chris is shown to be very "close-minded" about the subject and will get violent over anyone trying to prove the fact that Asperger's and High-Functioning Autism are nearly identical. In fact, it has been proposed that Asperger's Syndrome be placed on the autism spectrum in the new DSM-V, making both the condition and "high-functioning autism" one and the same. Because of Chris's massive ego, he seems to think he's higher-functioning than any other high-functioning autistic, leading him to call people with Asperger's "fakers".

Chris and Low-Functioning Autism

Disgustingly, Chris detests low-functioning autistics. In Mailbag 25, he compares those with low-functioning autism with those who suffer from severe retardation or severe brain damage, thinking that they would have their arms linked together, have deformations, be confined to wheelchairs or crutches and drool and grunt and growl. He has also compared them to "zombies". In his phone call to Matt Devoria, he refuses to date a girl with any form of autism because he fears that seeing them will make him think about what he might be like if he had anything other than high-functioning autism.

Things Chris has not blamed on his autism

What other aspies think of Chris

• Aspies For Freedom thread where Chris or someone pretending to be Chris asks for help against ED. The aspies offer the usual advice of ignoring the trolls, which by the way is the best advice.

• Aspies For Freedom thread where someone asks about Chris, but everyone else just wants to avoid the drama. A few of them realize that what ED says is true even though it may be a "hate site". Apparently, previous drama involving Chris led them to disable registration.

Tl;dr: Chris has no support in the online autistic community unless it's from someone who would rather he commit suicide.

See also

• Asperger syndrome
• Aspergers (CWCipedia article)
• A-U-T-I-S-M
• Chris and psychology
• Kick the Autistic
• Slow-in-the-minds
• Stress

External links

• One Winged Autistic
• The Tard-Man - Autistic Adventures - Director's Cut
• Sexuality and Autism