Autism
| “ | 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.[1] | ||
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. He 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."
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. While his diagnosis was initially "high-functioning", apparently his incredibly abysmal upbringing has actually degraded it to mid-functioning at best.
According to Chris, his autism manifested when he was locked in his room by a babysitter at 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."
Feel free to put it back, my Lord.
Chris's symptoms
Many trolls dispute the exact diagnosis of Chris's mental condition, on the basis that Chris's 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 the fuck-up 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. Many autistic people 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. This is 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 this, with a sense of entitlement coupled with expecting others to not only understand his ridiculous idiosyncrasies in the first place, but to 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" (he's gone waaaay beyond eccentric; more like psychotic) or into the other extreme that Chris has full blown mental retardation, but Chris's characteristics are most likely a combination of bad parenting and genuine autism:
- Chris lacks a conversational filter. He calls this honesty, normal people call it social retardation. He will tell you about his pinkeye and briefs and how he is a virgin with rage.
- He speaks in 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. (Strangely, his voice didn't used to be so; see Song of Christian for a fairly normal-sounding Christian. Well, never mind that he also sounds a bit like Conker.)
- He can't show emotions well with face 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.
- He 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 you, but he can't return the favor. True story. This lack of empathy is only magnified by his parents having coddled him as a child and giving him no real reason to empathize with other people.
- Chris is extremely gullible. One only need to 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.
- He has trouble socializing. 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 people, 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 appear to follow established steps instead of simply allowing them to go with the flow.
- Chris tends to use solipsistic neologisms. That is, he creates new words that only he himself understands and expects people to comprehend. It is because of this that many articles on the CWCki have been written to explain.
- He exhibits compulsive and repetitious behavior. He wears the same shirt repeatedly, and uses the same terms and exact wordings 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.
- He has a narrow range of interests. He seems to only give a damn about video games and prowling for his next sweetheart and often wishes to combine two interests..
- Lack of 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 the prerequisites of his potential sweetheart while oblivious to the fact he was racially insensitive [2].
- 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.
Autism cured?
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, so he may later retract this. Fortunately, Chris has discovered that stress and "I'm sick, so I can't think straight" are more socially popular scapegoats for his personal shortcomings. Of course, people learn to manage stress for the former and take decongestants for the latter 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.
As of November 2009, Chris seems 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"). He will most likely catch it again by next year.
Things Chris has blamed on his autism
Everything not positive.
Chris and Asperger's syndrome
Asperger's syndrome is a social disorder that is considered by some to fall within the autism spectrum (though recent studies say otherwise). Its symptoms are similar to those seen in more high-functioning autism cases like Chris. However, Chris is easily offended by the suggestion that Asperger's syndrome is even remotely similar to autism, referring to it as a disorder that affects the memory. He's made this mistake on IRC, in his online Autism Quiz, in the Sonichu 1 Official Videobook, and in his Mailbag on CWCipedia, among other places.
Apparently it really "grinds his gears" when people say that autism and Asperger's are related, almost like it's offensive to be compared to someone with another disorder similar to autism. He bluntly refuses to acknowledge any argument or evidence that suggests there's any similarity or connection between the two.
| “ | I am closed-minded on the topic of the two being same, because THEY ARE NOT. | ” |
| Chris, Mailbag 4, 28 November 2009 | ||
Chris finally bothers to "define" Asperger's in Mailbag 7:
| “ | Aspergers is MORE classified to those who come down with it LATER in life during their ADULT years. Autism happens from nearly the start. With that being a MAJOR difference between the two among other differences, I again rest my case. | ” |
| “ | Those with Aspergers are Retarded Linguisticly and Cognitively, PLUS they are most certainly MORE CLUMSY than we Autistics.
|
” |
As usual, Chris fails with psychology. The fact is that the reverse is true according to the DSM-IV diagnosis for autism (299.00) and Asperger's syndrome (299.80). Autism is characterized by significant impairments in childhood linguistic and cognitive development whereas Asperger's syndrome is not, though both share the common trait of impaired social development. While DSM-IV does not account for motor clumsiness, ICD-10 as a conditional criteria. Otherwise, both are indeed autism spectrum disorders and Chris is a moron for thinking otherwise.
Similar to naïve, this is a relatively harmless comparison that just drives Chris batshit insane, which makes it one of the most fun things to confront him about.
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.
- Wrong Planet thread where reading about Chris has motivated some autistics and aspies to not become like him. One of them calls Chris "the most frightening representation of Asperger's Syndrome I have ever come across!", another ups the ante with "He's the most vulgar and abominable incarnation of the aspects of asperger I fear the most. I feel unclean just reading about him..." and another wants Chris to kill himself.
- An autistic guy calls Chris "the worst human being to ever exist from God's green earth" and an embarrassment to autistics around the world. Truer words have never been spoken.
Tl;dr
Chris has no support in the online autistic community unless it's from someone who would rather he commit suicide.