LABELS, FRIENDS OR FOES?

I remember, in the 1980s, my father had a dual fuel Ford Falcon company car for a few weeks, and he told my brother not to touch a switch on the dashboard. That switch was the one that determined whether you used petrol or LPG. Now imagine you’re a mechanic and you’re called out to a car that won’t start. You want to know what type of fuel it uses, as if you take out five litres of petrol to a car that runs on diesel, you’ll do more harm than good.

So why are some people so afraid of labels? And should they be? Many parents say that they don’t want their child to be given a label as they see it as limiting. If you were like my old high school guidance officer, you would use it to make assumptions, rather than trying to establish a picture of the full person.

I remember having the misfortune of seeing the ridiculous doctor who doesn’t believe that men and women can be platonic friends, who told me that I had a “non-descript chest condition,” which I describe as “a nonsensical imprecise diagnosis”. He said, “bit like bronchitis, bit like asthma,” yadda yadda, to which I say, “Bronchitis is inflammation of the airways and can be a response to infection. It can also be divided into acute or chronic, with chronic bronchitis being typically associated with long-term smokers. Asthma, on the other hand, is inflammation that is triggered by exposure to certain things, such as pollen or dust and a list of others.” So, if a person who started smoking at 16 began to develop shortness of breath at 45, but put it down to ageing, and at 50, found that it was getting worse and they had to see a doctor and that doctor said, “Okay, you need a chest x-ray.” That doctor then says that they have chronic bronchitis and if they stop smoking now, it could slow its progression. So, they quit smoking over several months, and they need certain medications. That person can qualify for a free flu vaccine, a free pneumonia vaccine every five years and the like. If they need supplemental oxygen, even if it’s just when they sleep, they can qualify for a subsidy for their electricity where I live. So that’s a benefit of having a label. If, on the other hand, they go to a doctor who says they have a “non-descript chest condition” and they continue to smoke, and they are later diagnosed with more severe chronic bronchitis or emphysema, for the time that they could have had a precise diagnosis, they missed out on benefits. And asthma and acute bronchitis require different treatments.

The same applies to autistic kids and adults. If they are assessed and they are found to be autistic, accommodations can be made to help them succeed in the school environment. Or they can be homeschooled.

Rather than thinking, “I don’t want to be given a label,” think, “A label can help me obtain the help and support I need.” After all, a chaotic school environment is about as helpful to an autistic kid as petrol is to a diesel engine.