Susan Boyle Does Not Have Asperger's

Once again, I here the lamestream media using autism/Asperger's as yet another cause celebre or diagnosis du jour, this time claiming that Susan Boyle suffers from the condition. For those of you who are unaware, Susan Boyle is an old, ugly lady from Scotland who did well on Britain's Got Talent because she could sing songs from Les Miserables. She now claims that she has been "diagnosed" with the condition, but that it doesn't define her (so at least she's not totally ND). Since she resides in Britain, I wonder if this "diagnosis" was performed by Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen, an ND who has "diagnosed" multiple celebrities without ever having met them. Maybe next he'll diagnose his cousin Borat. Doing this is offensive and potentially harmful to people who are genuinely autistic and need a cure. About a year ago, New York Magazine wrote a brilliant article about how autism and Asperger's are becoming commonly-used terms to describe socially awkward people, and how that is causing sources to be diverted that actually help autistic people. I checked ND's website shortly after I read the tabloid article claiming Susan Boyle had been diagnosed, but so far they had nothing about it. Maybe after they read this post, they'll put something up "celebrating" another autistic person. Autism is something to cure, not celebrate. If we don't celebrate cancer and AIDS, we shouldn't celebrate autism.