by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2015/06/01 14:53 +00:00, original URI: http://www.siao2.com/2015/06/01/8770668856267196446.aspx
It wasn't as serious as it really was in Dallas in 1963 when JFK was shot, but it was more serious than it was *on* Dallas in 1980 when JR was shot and CBS immortalized the cliffhanger in our culture. I have a reasonable alibi for the former with no witnesses (I wasn't born yet) and the latter (I wasn't even ten years old yet). But I was alive and kicking as a young adult in 1990 when Jim Henson died.
Kermit the frog via Jim Henson and Steve Whitmire and Artie Esposito. I remember the special after Jim died and the subtle differences between Jim and Steve and Artie were covered by a non linguist in a video contrasting the differences between the voices of the three actors providing the voice of Jim Henson's most famous Muppet, Kermit the Frog, appearing near the 45 minute mark:
I remember Kermit's appearance on the CBS special after Jim Henson died,
and the subtle differences that I as a young non-linguist and an undiagnosed case of Asperger Syndrome noticed and was ironically subconsciously relieved by since it explained to me when and how Kermit the Frog was able to live on through others.
It reminded me about how Asperger Syndrome was removed from the DSM-5 and replaced with Autism Spectrum Disorder and a degree, ignoring the reality of the disorder and how the change in the name could really affect someone who has been diagnosed with the problem. While helping the medical profession, it actually hurts people who have the problem who are not as well equipped to handle the situation of changing the name of the actual disorder by virtue of the how Asperger Syndrome can actually work (or in this case, not work!).
It is like how we learned that in both real life and Law & Order that when we are told the word "mistrial" we hear the words "case dismissed", even without having Asperger Syndrome or Autism Spectrum Disorder or whatever you might want to call it. We are all somewhere on that spectrum and it is high time that the experts realized that Asperger is a syndrome just like Pluto is a planet; in both cases the experts need to learn to use their expertise for others more than for themselves.
Dedicated to a frog named Kermit!