Autistics and 2e or Twice Exceptional

Introduction to "2e"

You, like me, might see this term as a school-administration category that has some pragmatic use, is necessary to loosen the reins for those who need to academically plunge on ahead.

Some of you, like me, might also recognise it as yet another functioning label, philosophically flawed, socially loaded, harmful in the long-term, and full of shade from dark times in the past.

'a word by any other name'

"Exceptional", like its synonym "special", is an ableist term.

Ableism is what some able people inflict on the disabled - as well as some disabled people do to themselves and their own kind - and it comes from the same hell-hole as misogyny, racism, ageism, sectarianism, and other phobic hateful reactions born of ignorance, self-blindedness, systemic and personal failings.

autistics and exceptionality

While the thick connection between outstanding cleverness and being autistic was not known, and since that connection has reached the limelight, terms like
• 2e, twice exceptional,
• savant, polymath, genius,
• child prodigy, precocious child, childhood virtuoso, etc.
• boffin (UK & Commonwealth slang),
• the theme of cognitively superior outsider, neuro-messiah,
• ein lebenswertes Leben, würdige Köpfe (German: 'a life worth living', 'worthy minds')
were inevitably going to end-up embroiled in
• some gross misunderstanding about the nature of being autistic,
• used to 'pick winners',
• used to grade autistics into 'good' and 'bad',
• used for eugenical purposes,
• used to select token autistics to thrive or even survive,
• used to capitalise (literally) on,
• used to predate upon, or
• made a spectacle of.

the origin

There was one who used the term early-on in the 20th century.

Thus, from inside Nazi medical organisations*, Hans Asperger, assessing 'patients' at Am Spiegelgrund in Vienna, had his work used in 'selections', likely helping to keep perhaps as many as 32 'exceptional' autistic children alive, while helping in some way to send another autistic portion of 789 other patients to their deaths under the Nazi Aktion T4 Programme, as mere 'Ballastexistenzen' or Ballast Lives to be jettisoned, often after horrendous experimentation and appalling neglect.

Back then a '+' sign on the bottom left of a form was enough to ensure a child would be exterminated as a 'burden'. Today, the same sign or a similar grading can be used to quietly fast-track a child's educational progress or provide greatly increased resourcing, access, and attention, to that afforded others left-behind.

For hundreds of others, their bottled and sealed brains in jars were only laid to rest as late as 2002 - a sign of how raw and recent this is for autistics, and a sign of our voices finally being heard shaming anti-autistics (neuro-fascists) sufficiently at last.

a resurfacing

The term 'twice-exceptional' or "2e" is of more recent origin than "exceptional" alone.

It first appeared in James Gallagher's 1988 article 'National Agenda for Educating Gifted Students: Statement of Priorities'.

It was wisely met with much caution ... at least at first.

from an autistic perspective

For me it is all about
the non-autistic dominant neurotype person
first /pathologising and casting down children who are autistic/
then /reaching down to pluck just some back-up thanks to a determination of intelligence or giftedness/.

What "saviours" they are. Aww. Not.

It also imposes a hierarchy template on a people who reject that very concept most often.

It also adds just another unwanted brick in the wall, another functioning label.

It also centres productivity and usefulness ('utilitarianism') for the sake of the labeller, while dehumanising all our other attributes, en-bloc.

Already installed perfectly in the term "Autistic" is unevenness, preference, spikeyness, ability, focus, depth, ability... why the need for additional association?

association

The association was always going to happen because with autistics, monotropism, a neuro-architecture for deep laser-like focus, for patterns, for connections, for depth, for singularity, for intense interests, with or without mnemonic systems or synaesthesia, was always going to lead to some stand-out effects when viewed in isolation to all else about the individuals who have that way of being.

Despite pleadings to the contrary from some parents and professors, it has not proved a humane or life-improving connection to make or set in relief against ordinariness - which autistics have a perfect right to display.

what autistics want

We are not on your spectrum between Tragic Dispensable Burden and Sacred Mystical Genius.

It is not a spectrum of how convenient or inconvenient we appear to you.

We are humans on a spectrum of traits, capacities, sensitivities, needs, processing styles, strengths, weaknesses, and fluctuating states. Like you - also - if you stop and think hard for a moment.

The spectrum is a moving colour-wheel in all of our lives, not some linear measuring stick for non-autistics.

How often non-autistics mistake compliance, masking, silence, or burnout ... for wellness, capability, advancement. Don't do that. Instead ask "how does this autistic nervous system interact with this world, as it is shaped, under these conditions, at this precise moment... and at what cost?"

We do not want to be labelled twice exceptional for being clever AND neurodivergent.

We want all humans to receive education and support at a level that meets their individual needs. Autistics do not want to see a child held-back to keep pace with Governmentally-standardised demands, proscriptions regarding progressing quicker, or based around age solely.

There does need to be acknowledgement that wherever this strength is identified, there certainly will be weaknesses also, often as graphic in nature.

We do not want to see autistics placed in situations of friendlessness, age-imbalance, intense pressure, shooting-star, flash-and-burn, extreme observation, 'hothousing', or insufficient broader understanding of life and multi-disciplinary subjects to provide any stable basis for future gains and holistic advancement.

functioning label

Like with all functioning labels, something autistics reject as made-up/non-scientific/harmful, "twice exceptional" does a very good job of fuelling the concept of "'high-functioning' ignoring the hardships, and 'low functioning' ignoring potential".

Hence the autistic insistence: "presume competence".

~ ʎllɐǝɹƃ uɥoɾ

https://www.facebook.com/john.greally/

Autism Inclusivity Co-founder

https://www.facebook.com/groups/autisminclusivity

footnote

* Nazi Medical Organisation Memberships
1. National Socialist German Physicians League (Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Ärztebund / NSDÄB).
2. National Socialist People’s Welfare (Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt / NSV).
3. Various additional 'professional' structures connected to the overall Nazi racial-hygiene administration.