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Why Tyra Banks Needs to Google Asperger's Syndrome
Thursday. 5.24.12 3:53 pm

Try not to judge me when I say that I AM DEFINITELY WATCHING AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL RIGHT NOW OKAY.

I have a point to make!

There's one girl in...which season is this (I don't know self)...okay whatever there have been several girls like this throughout the seasons, anyway. There's a girl named Heather. She apparently has Asperger's Syndrome and a cocktail of mental disorders that, in part, come along for the ride. So Tyra Banks, during judging for a commercial shoot, mentions that they did read her the lines because of her Asperger's.

She proceeds to call it an advantage.

...Excuse me?

From my viewpoint, which is that of someone who has (very minimal, but still active) help from the school for a mental disorder, this girl is constantly living her life at a DISadvantage. It amazes me that, especially in the United States where we seem to be especially open about therapy and mental health (considering that the AMA writes the DSM manuals), some people still think that all extra help is putting someone at an advantage. I may need a separate testing area, but that's because it is impossible for me to concentrate on a test if someone is even chewing gum, and that alone can push me into a serious anxiety attack. If everyone had that problem, I am most certain that we would have a different testing environment altogether, because no educator in his right mind would make students test under those circumstances.

The point of disability programs are to even out the playing field. Of course there are students who take advantage of the program, just like there are students that take advantage of medications (Ritalin, hello?). The new DSM-5 is supposed to really restrict the number of diagnoses for any given disorder by increasing the minimum number of symptoms any given person must meet to receive affirmation and treatment, which will make a big difference, there. (By the way, this freaks me out because I'm very high functioning, but it will help with this ADHD madness.)

Disability programs identify what the student needs to even out the playing field with every other regular student, whether the disabled student ends up not studying too terribly well and makes a D, or the student works hard and makes straight As. The point isn't to turn them into dependent, lazy people. The point is to get them through school, so they can go into the workforce with a great resume, just like anyone else. Once you're in the workforce, it's up to you to figure out how to accommodate your own disorders...but it will be okay, because getting help in the peak years typically helps you figure out what you need, and what you need to avoid.

I'm in support of getting help when you need it. People who make others feel ashamed about it need to put some of that energy into educating themselves about 1) the mental disorder itself, and 2) the disability service.

So, essentially, Tyra Banks can take her false sense of understanding when it comes to mental health and "special treatment" and shove it.
1 Comments.


Well, I'm not a fan of Tyra Banks, regardless of everything else. She just strikes me as an annoying person.

I had heard they were going to take Asperger's out of the DSM, though? I know a few people who have it, and they've dealt with it in different ways... One guy feels that he's a stronger person for overcoming it, one felt it was a struggle and he still has some issues, and one kind of uses it as an excuse to complain that people don't understand him... (I am not entirely clear on how he knows he has it, though, just for the record)
» randomjunk on 2012-05-24 07:06:53

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