The American Heritage dictionary defines “autistic” as if describing a person: “Having a medical condition that causes you to have trouble talking to and understanding other people.” It is used as an adjective. The same dictionary defines cancer as a noun: “A disease in which abnormal cells multiply in certain parts of the body, sometimes spreading to other parts of the body.” Both of these are medical conditions and yet autism is used to describe an entire person’s life while cancer is noted to be a condition with which a person lives. Autism is a neurological condition that does impair parts of a … [Read more...]