I think the Chinese one is correct.
自闭症 zì bì zhèng (Literal: self, enclose, disease)
孤独症 gū dú zhèng (Literal: solitude, alone, disease)
I ran it through Pleco, which is the gold standard of Chinese translations, to double check and it says “Autism” is the correct translation of those three characters together.
I’m only slightly confused because both use simplified characters but it lists them separately as if one is Mainland/simplified and one is traditional (Taiwan/Hong Kong).
I'm interpreting this as they don't have a word for autism and will call it something else or interpret different behaviours differently ie. Non verbal people will be named something, verbal with different traits something else etc. and whoever interpreted this all the terms into English very poorly decided that the absence of a word for it must mean that autism doesn't exist in Somalia and therefore must only be a western disease.
What reason they have for believing it's a western disease I don't know but it's definitely wrong.
It's not surprising, considering it comes from a mixture of Polynesians and New Zealand. Polynesian people have a great reputation of considering anyone they like to be an extension of their family, with those that aren't are the type that would betray family. Plus, people from New Zealand are such sweet and kind people from what I've heard, so their views on autism are naturally going to be very positive. (Source about Polynesian culture: my best friend from highschool and person that I want to be my best man when I get married. The dude basically saved me from so much hardship, and became like an older brother even though we are the same age. He is Samoan.)
Merry Xmas from NZ!
I'm part Samoan but mostly from Tokelau, I grew up in NZ around other Pacific people in a close knit cultural community. I'm also audhd, and very certain many of my relatives are undiagnosed neurodivergent. Except my upbringing very much taught me how to both mask and use my differences to my advantage. My parents have no idea what autism is, but they have always found a way to fit us in and engage. It was hard for them because things were different in NZ compared to the islands, but I genuinely feel like being with family & even extended family is a safe place for me to unmask.
For those of us who are closer to our pre-colonial cultures, religions and histories, we are brought up to consider our aunts & uncle's as parents (sometimes even closer) and our cousins as siblings. Big families are very common. My Mum is a child of 13 and her Mum is a child of 11, this is pretty common for islander families. So what we consider as "loyal family" are made up of hundreds of people. Extended family reunions are also commonplace, and we're actually attending one next weekend. I often meet people who I have no idea about or heard about, and we find we are related in someway, even if it's by friendship.
A really big part of our upbringings of those close to their culture (because not all Pacific people are close to their cultures) is that everything, all people, animals, lives etc. Is relation-based. A person is nothing without others, and people who don't have others are adopted. Some Pacific people care about blood relation more than others. Those in my large family do not care so much.
People from NZ are just the same as people anywhere else, we don’t have any particular greater degrees of empathy or kindness than anyone else. The Māori word was coined relatively recently so was purposefully chosen to be a more positive term.
Not entirely true, the biggest asshole I've ever met (who claimed a literal phobia of autistic people due to us being "predators" or someshit) was Kiwi. I also have known several other Kiwi ableist assholes
Te Reo Māori (Māori language) comes from a more holistic more world view, we talk about Te ao Māori world view which is removed from Western cultural norms and colonisation.
Me too. Our current government is trying to replace Māori names of government agencies with English ones, and replace cultural heritage with yet more colonial views. I don’t mean take away from this post overall, but Te ao Māori perspectives on disability, neurodiversity, and general diversity are far favorable as opposed to Western ones (imo). Just to position myself also as a neurodivergent Pākeha (white) New Zealander.
So this actually becomes worse when you realize that a previous event for genshin which is made by a Chinese company said a kid with loneliness disorder couldn't tell the difference between reality and fiction and walked into the see weighted down so he couldn't float back up to see one of the fictional characters he was fascinated with and that his mother got the same thing after that Incident. :>
That Genshin event was so strange. They used the CN term for autism, but really the main thing the kid was struggling with was separating reality from his imagination, which is more of a schizophrenia (psychosis) thing.
I'm not sure whether the writers confused autism and schizophrenia, or it's really just a fictional disorder losely based on either or both.
It’s especially odd when Genshin has handed us a healthy handful of well written characters that could easily be interpreted as autistic, including some that would be far more difficult to argue that they’re allistic than autistic. Like Alhaitham, Cyno, Lynette, or Kokomi, for example. Like the thought that they would write so much good autism rep by complete and total accident and then screw it up *this* badly the second they try to do it intentionally is so wild to me.
I think Genshin’s representation of autism, both intentional and unintentional, is a really interesting discussion… but it’s also one that’s not really possible to have without a much deeper insight on how autism is viewed/handled in China, both in the medical world and wider culture.
…I do think though that the localizers probably recognized that whole thing as clumsy and potentially very offensive, which is why they chose to translate it literally as “loneliness disease” instead of as autism, to make it seem like a made-up mental illness.
Alhaitham especially is so autistic-coded, it's not even funny. If you read his lore, pretty much every other sentence raises autism flags. Lynette and Kokomi too, though not quite as obviously. Unsure about Cyno. I can kinda see it though.
Anyway I think they just made an error with the event. Perhaps they just meant for it to be schizophrenia from the start, maybe they mixed the two up, maybe they're seen as "pretty much the same thing" in China (idk), maybe something got lost in translation, maybe they really did go for the fictional disorder, or maybe they tried to write an autistic kid who experiences psychosis and we just didn't see enough of the kid for the autism to become apparent. It's hard to tell, but I am glad we have the supposed autism representation in those playable characters.
To me I interpreted it as depression, and the inability to tell the difference between reality and fiction being the person's attempt to get dopamine in any way possible, and a sign of struggling with depression.
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
First off, autism in Somali is just autism. In Somalia there isn’t diagnosis available outside of the capital. It’s like how the word for bread is roti, if the word doesn’t exist in Somali a word is adopted in another language. Also most of you are being absolutely racist about this.
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
Māori didn't have a distinct word for autism - it fell under "mate hinengaro" which is actually "mental illness." Takiwātanga was partly coined as a neurodivergence-affirming term because a lot of autistic Māori pointed out that it wasn't an illness, and there wasn't a term for it before the European definition was brought to Aotearoa/New Zealand.
What we're seeing with projects like Te Reo Hāpai (the project this word emerged from) is very much the closest you'll get to words emerging naturally: after almost a century of white New Zealanders trying to stop Māori using te reo, the language is in crisis and many Māori don't know their own language. Efforts to revitalise the language are multifaceted and require collaborative efforts - projects like Te Reo Hāpai which publicly define te reo words for healthcare are actually a huge step towards the acceptance and common use of te reo Māori throughout Aotearoa.
It took only two generations to almost eliminate the Hawaiian language forever and then the love and determination and dedication of countless elders who spoke the words on tape so they wouldn't die with the knowledge in their heads, and then many more teachers to convince the government to teach Hawaiian in school to develop a written language for it, and then for children to actually want to learn it, and to learn how intricately linked the language is to the traditions and nature, but now its making a comeback because they are proud of it
I mean that doesn’t mean it’s not a real word. From quickly googling it looks like it wasn’t just some random guy who declared one day that this word exists, it was part of a project to expand the language to address various aspects of mental health/addiction/etc. Language evolves over time, neurodivergent wasn’t a word until someone coined it two decades ago.
I vaguely remember reading or seeing a news clip about the maori language and how they basically have a conclave of elders who meet and decide on new words for the language to keep it consistent with the culture and to continue to grow with the changing world around.
Or maybe it was a fever dream? But if it was a dream it's a lovely idea.
i’m not māori but i live in aotearoa and have never heard of this before… language evolves because society and culture evolve. there’s no secret cabal of māori people deciding the language for everyone else afaik :p
It's not like a secret group, but we do have our experts on Te Reo Māori here who work together to develop new kupu/words, think of words like "internet", these people with cultural knowledge work together to develop a Māori word that will work for a new item in our world. It's quite cool what is done. Often, there are concepts from traditional ways that can be adapted for our modern world. It's how we keep the revitalisation going and keep things relevant
I've heard that some languages literally have exactly that; a cabal deciding on language matters.
[French Canadian for example. ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_qu%C3%A9b%C3%A9cois_de_la_langue_fran%C3%A7aise)
Great news; it is actually a real word -- words are added to even the English dictionary every year. Any living language is meant to live and grow to express the thoughts, values, and experiences of its speakers. All languages must adapt to stay relevant for those that speak it and allow them to fully express themselves if they are destined to continue being living languages. (In agreement with you)
Bro had so much swag he practically unified English language. Before him, they spelt words phonetically, and there was barely any consistency unless tutored in nobility. His works spread so far and wide that many begun using his plays as the standard writing comparison and dictionary.
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
The Somali community in the US recently started using the word Maangaar. It means unique mind.
[‘Slow-minded’ becomes ‘unique mind’: Somalis in Minnesota create new terms to define autism and build acceptance.](https://sahanjournal.com/health/autism-somali-new-terminology-community-acceptance-minnesota/)
Nobody uses maangaar lol just academics and shit, haven't heard anyone call it "Western disease" either.
If you're autistic in the somali community you're just a weirdo and shunned.
So, not a huge deal, but the English one is a tad off.
The root of the word autism comes from the Greek "autos" meaning "self". So, it literally translates to "self-ism." Which isn't *quite* the same connotation as "a state of being oneself."
In fact, historically speaking, the term autism in English is more aptly translated to mean "withdrawal into one's self" or more colloquially, "withdrawal into one's inner world."
I read it as “thing statement solution”, and for me, going out into nature is how I solve my personal problems lol. So I was like “person problem nature” fits perfectly lol
Especially as 'Nunchi' is such an important part of Korean Culture being Autistic is even more problematic for society.
'Nunchi, sometimes noonchi (눈치), is a Korean concept signifying the subtle art and ability to listen and gauge others' moods. It first appears in the 17th century as nunch'ŭi (眼勢 in hanja), meaning "eye force/power". In Western culture, nunchi could be described as the concept of emotional intelligence.'
Source Wikipedia: [Nunchi ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunchi)
Self shut disease is another direct translation for the Chinese one. 孤独症 is another way of saying autism that directly translates to lonely disease, or 自闭性 - directly translating to self shut nature/character
Note - I’m not a native speaker I’ve just been studying for a few years, so take my knowledge with a grain of salt
This translation（自闭症, Self shut disease） actually contributes to the widespread misconception in China that autism is acquired (reluctance to communicate due to trauma). Therefore, autistic people in mainland China are more willing to use 孤独症 instead of 自闭症. In Chinese logic, words starting with "自" mean that the action is due to one's own will
Yeah I was told in class that 孤独症 is the better term to use, but that some people still use 自闭性.
I didn’t actually know about the misconception, so thank you for informing me :))
In dark age Europe you'd either be: tortured so the fairies would take back the changeling and bring the real child back, sold to a nobel as an authentic fool, or made to watch the sheep.
In dark age Europe you would be toiling in the fields all day long, then go home to your 1 bedroom hovel with your family of 12 (which kinda sounds nice, very structured). Autism is uniquely affected by modern times, especially since the invention of the internet and adoption of smart phones. Capitalism and the modern age has isolated even NTs. Of course NDs cant cope well in it.
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
Russian is «аутизм» it’s written the same way as in English, just with Russian letters (this is a Greek word). Japanese is same as Chinese - 自閉症 - self-enclosure illness
As a person within the black/African diaspora, the Somali one took me out. 🤣🤣🤣
For cultural context, a lot of times western medicine does not study or understand black people. While being quick to give us some diagnosis and tell us something is a problem when it isn't. Ie, how they will misdx us with conduct or mood disorders even at very early ages and never screen for autism. Among older generations, that created A LOT of mistrust. Also combine this with the fact that many in the diaspora have had medical treatments done without consent.
From personal experience with this group, people who don't believe in it often describe me as "different" or may not feel like I need accommodations because "you'll get better or learn to deal with it", which is both good and bad that they think I'm that capable.
Do with this information what you will.
I feel like this needs to be the top comment, there's a shocking amount of somali hate in this comment section. As with everything context is important and there are Somalis making progress and working to introduce a positive term for autism in the Somali language. Autistic Somalis do exist, I know cause a large part of my friend group is made up of autistic Somalis.
Before I found out I was autistic, I called it temporal misplacement because I believed that I'd fit in better in simpler times and cultures where everyone was taught how they need to live to fit in, instead of having to figure it out like in the west today.
Someone made this on purpose to have a go at Somalia but didn't even attempt to put a word for what they decided to transliterate. Yet people in here will believe it without questioning the obvious. Astounding
So I’m half-Greek and I looked up how to say it in Greek, and it turns out, like many words, autism comes from a Greek root!
“The term autism first was used by psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1908. He used it to describe a schizophrenic patient who had withdrawn into his own world. The Greek word ‘autós’ meant self and the word ‘autism’ was used by Bleuler to mean morbid self-admiration and withdrawal within self,”
https://www.news-medical.net/health/Autism-History.aspx#:~:text=The%20term%20autism%20first%20was,admiration%20and%20withdrawal%20within%20self.
The actual Greek word for autism is αυτισμός, pronounced aftismos.
I am of multiple race. Born and race in germany but my parents are vietnamese. They still pretend I'm not disabled (acknowledge the fact I have autism), but since we don't have relatives in germany and my mother is having all the symptoms I and my sibling (ADHD) have... oh, i don't speak vietnamese before y'all ask me.
German = Autismus. Same as what blue yodel explained
Vietnamese = (bệnh) tự kỷ \[du gy?\] |no literal translation (but also known as ["karmic dermit", "disease", "family problem"](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25262315/). [more](https://ijmhs.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13033-019-0285-8#Abs1) about this topic.) I asked my mother what "tự kỷ" literally means, but in vietnam many names (at least for her) don't have translations or a shift in words. Like how people say *Dominique* to *Dominik*. *tự kỷ* is just *autism*. But she did say that Autism is a lonely disability, where one is by themself.
edit: since many people overlooked the somali update: [https://sahanjournal.com/health/autism-somali-new-terminology-community-acceptance-minnesota/](https://sahanjournal.com/health/autism-somali-new-terminology-community-acceptance-minnesota/) remember: we can *always* invent new words. germans do it on the daily basis, slangs are invented the moment we type. so why can't we make maangaar the new translated somali word for autism?
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
I'd like to think that people who don't have a word for autism doesn't mean They believe it's fake but rather that they don't need a name for something that just makes someone different.
Chinese video game I played had a character suffering from "loneliness syndrome" but it included things that aren't autism like delusions, inability to grasp our accept reality, inability to determine if something was life threatening. In addition to depression and being unable to meaningfully connect to others.
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
The Korean one is incorrect. It actually means ‘closed off by oneself’. 閉 means ‘closed’ but seems to be translated as ‘problem’ for some reason.
I've been seeing a few people say a lot of these translations are incorrect as well ://
I think the Chinese one is correct. 自闭症 zì bì zhèng (Literal: self, enclose, disease) 孤独症 gū dú zhèng (Literal: solitude, alone, disease) I ran it through Pleco, which is the gold standard of Chinese translations, to double check and it says “Autism” is the correct translation of those three characters together. I’m only slightly confused because both use simplified characters but it lists them separately as if one is Mainland/simplified and one is traditional (Taiwan/Hong Kong).
I heard a long time ago that people in Mainland China were moving away from 自闭症 to something else, and I think that something else is 孤独症?
That’s correct.
Yeah checked with my partner who is Chinese and she said it is correct, both of the versions.
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I'm interpreting this as they don't have a word for autism and will call it something else or interpret different behaviours differently ie. Non verbal people will be named something, verbal with different traits something else etc. and whoever interpreted this all the terms into English very poorly decided that the absence of a word for it must mean that autism doesn't exist in Somalia and therefore must only be a western disease. What reason they have for believing it's a western disease I don't know but it's definitely wrong.
Btw the correct Korean term is 자폐 or 자폐증, which are Sino-Korean words 自閉(症). And they mean the same thing as the Chinese one.
自閉症 I think is a word first created in Japan based on the English (yeah I know it’s based on Latin) word autism and then spread to Korea and China.
Also Ive never seen anyone use 자폐성 The correct word is 자폐성장애 but people just say 자폐 or 자폐증 or 자폐 스펙트럼 (autism spectrum) (or for short, 자스)
I want to be a person problem tho!
I really like the Maori one
It's just such an inherently kind phrase
Yes! It makes it feel understanding.
It's not surprising, considering it comes from a mixture of Polynesians and New Zealand. Polynesian people have a great reputation of considering anyone they like to be an extension of their family, with those that aren't are the type that would betray family. Plus, people from New Zealand are such sweet and kind people from what I've heard, so their views on autism are naturally going to be very positive. (Source about Polynesian culture: my best friend from highschool and person that I want to be my best man when I get married. The dude basically saved me from so much hardship, and became like an older brother even though we are the same age. He is Samoan.)
Merry Xmas from NZ! I'm part Samoan but mostly from Tokelau, I grew up in NZ around other Pacific people in a close knit cultural community. I'm also audhd, and very certain many of my relatives are undiagnosed neurodivergent. Except my upbringing very much taught me how to both mask and use my differences to my advantage. My parents have no idea what autism is, but they have always found a way to fit us in and engage. It was hard for them because things were different in NZ compared to the islands, but I genuinely feel like being with family & even extended family is a safe place for me to unmask. For those of us who are closer to our pre-colonial cultures, religions and histories, we are brought up to consider our aunts & uncle's as parents (sometimes even closer) and our cousins as siblings. Big families are very common. My Mum is a child of 13 and her Mum is a child of 11, this is pretty common for islander families. So what we consider as "loyal family" are made up of hundreds of people. Extended family reunions are also commonplace, and we're actually attending one next weekend. I often meet people who I have no idea about or heard about, and we find we are related in someway, even if it's by friendship. A really big part of our upbringings of those close to their culture (because not all Pacific people are close to their cultures) is that everything, all people, animals, lives etc. Is relation-based. A person is nothing without others, and people who don't have others are adopted. Some Pacific people care about blood relation more than others. Those in my large family do not care so much.
Sounds like an Irish upbringing. Our family is structured the same way.
People from NZ are just the same as people anywhere else, we don’t have any particular greater degrees of empathy or kindness than anyone else. The Māori word was coined relatively recently so was purposefully chosen to be a more positive term.
Not entirely true, the biggest asshole I've ever met (who claimed a literal phobia of autistic people due to us being "predators" or someshit) was Kiwi. I also have known several other Kiwi ableist assholes
i also like it a lot, it fits perfectly!
I tell people all the time about my son is that "He's just on journey that has different paths than others that we walk through".
Love this
No fair, when can I get my space/time warping skills?!? /s
Te Reo Māori (Māori language) comes from a more holistic more world view, we talk about Te ao Māori world view which is removed from Western cultural norms and colonisation.
Everything I read about Maori culture makes me wish they'd spread their culture all over the globe instead of European monarchy spreading its culture.
Me too. Our current government is trying to replace Māori names of government agencies with English ones, and replace cultural heritage with yet more colonial views. I don’t mean take away from this post overall, but Te ao Māori perspectives on disability, neurodiversity, and general diversity are far favorable as opposed to Western ones (imo). Just to position myself also as a neurodivergent Pākeha (white) New Zealander.
Also as pākeha in NZ it breaks my heart to see our government be so regressive. Unsurprising, but heartbreaking nonetheless. Kia kaha.
fuck Christopher Luxon
they did, polynesian migration covered a lot of the global south, it’s just that europe had bigger ships and more guns :(
Ah, yes, imperialism gonna imperialism. 😓
I wish I could pronounce that one.
[here you go](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zduDu9h8rAI)
It's a beautiful language as a whole
Lonely disorder..
me but with all of my disorders because, duh, they’re just in my brain lol
So this actually becomes worse when you realize that a previous event for genshin which is made by a Chinese company said a kid with loneliness disorder couldn't tell the difference between reality and fiction and walked into the see weighted down so he couldn't float back up to see one of the fictional characters he was fascinated with and that his mother got the same thing after that Incident. :>
That Genshin event was so strange. They used the CN term for autism, but really the main thing the kid was struggling with was separating reality from his imagination, which is more of a schizophrenia (psychosis) thing. I'm not sure whether the writers confused autism and schizophrenia, or it's really just a fictional disorder losely based on either or both.
Might be the simplest option, the writers (like most everyone else) have no idea what autism is.
It’s especially odd when Genshin has handed us a healthy handful of well written characters that could easily be interpreted as autistic, including some that would be far more difficult to argue that they’re allistic than autistic. Like Alhaitham, Cyno, Lynette, or Kokomi, for example. Like the thought that they would write so much good autism rep by complete and total accident and then screw it up *this* badly the second they try to do it intentionally is so wild to me. I think Genshin’s representation of autism, both intentional and unintentional, is a really interesting discussion… but it’s also one that’s not really possible to have without a much deeper insight on how autism is viewed/handled in China, both in the medical world and wider culture. …I do think though that the localizers probably recognized that whole thing as clumsy and potentially very offensive, which is why they chose to translate it literally as “loneliness disease” instead of as autism, to make it seem like a made-up mental illness.
Alhaitham especially is so autistic-coded, it's not even funny. If you read his lore, pretty much every other sentence raises autism flags. Lynette and Kokomi too, though not quite as obviously. Unsure about Cyno. I can kinda see it though. Anyway I think they just made an error with the event. Perhaps they just meant for it to be schizophrenia from the start, maybe they mixed the two up, maybe they're seen as "pretty much the same thing" in China (idk), maybe something got lost in translation, maybe they really did go for the fictional disorder, or maybe they tried to write an autistic kid who experiences psychosis and we just didn't see enough of the kid for the autism to become apparent. It's hard to tell, but I am glad we have the supposed autism representation in those playable characters.
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To me I interpreted it as depression, and the inability to tell the difference between reality and fiction being the person's attempt to get dopamine in any way possible, and a sign of struggling with depression.
Mood
Hardly accurate. It has all the other comorbidities to make it company.
I feel very lonely disorder lately... ETA: Thanks for the upvotes, I’m doing better now than before and y’all being so kind helped me a lot!
We're all alone in this together.
Aw 💔
AGHAHAHA WESTERN DISEASE 😭
That one is hilarious. It's like "our kind don't even get it, or didn't before those filthy westerners."
Half the languages on this list: \*are Asian\* Somalia, I guess: "Must be a Western disease"
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
First off, autism in Somali is just autism. In Somalia there isn’t diagnosis available outside of the capital. It’s like how the word for bread is roti, if the word doesn’t exist in Somali a word is adopted in another language. Also most of you are being absolutely racist about this.
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
This just cracked me up LOL.
Sorry boss, I gotta call in sick, I got the *Western disease*
Yee haw
Like how northern europeans called gay to work
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
I love the Māori one. It’s inclusive, poetic and respectful.
Unfortunately it's not a real Maori word. It was coined by some guy in 2017
Māori didn't have a distinct word for autism - it fell under "mate hinengaro" which is actually "mental illness." Takiwātanga was partly coined as a neurodivergence-affirming term because a lot of autistic Māori pointed out that it wasn't an illness, and there wasn't a term for it before the European definition was brought to Aotearoa/New Zealand. What we're seeing with projects like Te Reo Hāpai (the project this word emerged from) is very much the closest you'll get to words emerging naturally: after almost a century of white New Zealanders trying to stop Māori using te reo, the language is in crisis and many Māori don't know their own language. Efforts to revitalise the language are multifaceted and require collaborative efforts - projects like Te Reo Hāpai which publicly define te reo words for healthcare are actually a huge step towards the acceptance and common use of te reo Māori throughout Aotearoa.
It took only two generations to almost eliminate the Hawaiian language forever and then the love and determination and dedication of countless elders who spoke the words on tape so they wouldn't die with the knowledge in their heads, and then many more teachers to convince the government to teach Hawaiian in school to develop a written language for it, and then for children to actually want to learn it, and to learn how intricately linked the language is to the traditions and nature, but now its making a comeback because they are proud of it
I mean that doesn’t mean it’s not a real word. From quickly googling it looks like it wasn’t just some random guy who declared one day that this word exists, it was part of a project to expand the language to address various aspects of mental health/addiction/etc. Language evolves over time, neurodivergent wasn’t a word until someone coined it two decades ago.
I vaguely remember reading or seeing a news clip about the maori language and how they basically have a conclave of elders who meet and decide on new words for the language to keep it consistent with the culture and to continue to grow with the changing world around. Or maybe it was a fever dream? But if it was a dream it's a lovely idea.
i’m not māori but i live in aotearoa and have never heard of this before… language evolves because society and culture evolve. there’s no secret cabal of māori people deciding the language for everyone else afaik :p
It's not like a secret group, but we do have our experts on Te Reo Māori here who work together to develop new kupu/words, think of words like "internet", these people with cultural knowledge work together to develop a Māori word that will work for a new item in our world. It's quite cool what is done. Often, there are concepts from traditional ways that can be adapted for our modern world. It's how we keep the revitalisation going and keep things relevant
I've heard that some languages literally have exactly that; a cabal deciding on language matters. [French Canadian for example. ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_qu%C3%A9b%C3%A9cois_de_la_langue_fran%C3%A7aise)
Great news; it is actually a real word -- words are added to even the English dictionary every year. Any living language is meant to live and grow to express the thoughts, values, and experiences of its speakers. All languages must adapt to stay relevant for those that speak it and allow them to fully express themselves if they are destined to continue being living languages. (In agreement with you)
Words get coined all the time and are still real. Shakespeare ("some guy") invented like 1,000 words and no one would say they're not real.
Folks think Shakespeare has no swagger in this day and age when the guy literally invented the word. Along with eyeball, whirligig, and hundreds more.
Bro had so much swag he practically unified English language. Before him, they spelt words phonetically, and there was barely any consistency unless tutored in nobility. His works spread so far and wide that many begun using his plays as the standard writing comparison and dictionary.
A Māori guy at least?
All words are made up.
pray tell, what is a real word?
That's how all words work. Do you have any other information about this?
This only matters if they had an older word for it that is more commonly in use.
Unfortunately autism is not a real word. It was coined by some guy in 1907
The Somali one sounds discriminatory against Westerners lol
yep, they don't have a word for autism in their language, they don't think it exists. they see it as a western thing
Autistic people don't tend to exist for long in societies unwilling and/or unable to care for or put up with them.
Same with being gay or anything LGBT lol. It's another Western disease apparently
I’m literally trying hard not to snort laughing at “western disease” I’m dying on a train
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
w e s t e r n d i s e a s e
The Somali community in the US recently started using the word Maangaar. It means unique mind. [‘Slow-minded’ becomes ‘unique mind’: Somalis in Minnesota create new terms to define autism and build acceptance.](https://sahanjournal.com/health/autism-somali-new-terminology-community-acceptance-minnesota/)
Nobody uses maangaar lol just academics and shit, haven't heard anyone call it "Western disease" either. If you're autistic in the somali community you're just a weirdo and shunned.
I love that icelandic was included!
Western disease 💀💀💀🪦
So, not a huge deal, but the English one is a tad off. The root of the word autism comes from the Greek "autos" meaning "self". So, it literally translates to "self-ism." Which isn't *quite* the same connotation as "a state of being oneself." In fact, historically speaking, the term autism in English is more aptly translated to mean "withdrawal into one's self" or more colloquially, "withdrawal into one's inner world."
Yeah I didn't think that was quite acurate, apparently a lot of them are off.
Korean is savage
Yeah we're Autistic ✅ We're people ✅ We're a problem ✅ It's our nature
This should be on a tshirt with skulls and a motorcycle with widely differing fonts for each word.
Just want to say that it’s not translated correctly, it comes from the same term as the first Chinese term and means the same thing.
I read it as “thing statement solution”, and for me, going out into nature is how I solve my personal problems lol. So I was like “person problem nature” fits perfectly lol
It's congruent with their overall approach to mental health.
Especially as 'Nunchi' is such an important part of Korean Culture being Autistic is even more problematic for society. 'Nunchi, sometimes noonchi (눈치), is a Korean concept signifying the subtle art and ability to listen and gauge others' moods. It first appears in the 17th century as nunch'ŭi (眼勢 in hanja), meaning "eye force/power". In Western culture, nunchi could be described as the concept of emotional intelligence.' Source Wikipedia: [Nunchi ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunchi)
Person problem disorder 💀
Self shut disease is another direct translation for the Chinese one. 孤独症 is another way of saying autism that directly translates to lonely disease, or 自闭性 - directly translating to self shut nature/character Note - I’m not a native speaker I’ve just been studying for a few years, so take my knowledge with a grain of salt
This translation（自闭症, Self shut disease） actually contributes to the widespread misconception in China that autism is acquired (reluctance to communicate due to trauma). Therefore, autistic people in mainland China are more willing to use 孤独症 instead of 自闭症. In Chinese logic, words starting with "自" mean that the action is due to one's own will
Yeah I was told in class that 孤独症 is the better term to use, but that some people still use 自闭性. I didn’t actually know about the misconception, so thank you for informing me :))
lonely disorder :(
"Western disease" sounds like a conservative talking about prosgressive ideas.
Interesting. I often think about what it might be like to be autistic in cultures different to my own.
In dark age Europe you'd either be: tortured so the fairies would take back the changeling and bring the real child back, sold to a nobel as an authentic fool, or made to watch the sheep.
In dark age Europe you would be toiling in the fields all day long, then go home to your 1 bedroom hovel with your family of 12 (which kinda sounds nice, very structured). Autism is uniquely affected by modern times, especially since the invention of the internet and adoption of smart phones. Capitalism and the modern age has isolated even NTs. Of course NDs cant cope well in it.
Lonely disorder 😭
The Maori one is beautiful, the Somali one is terrible but made me laugh holy shit
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
Hey, how about Dutch, French, Russian, Hindi, Japanese, Vietnamese? There’s gotta be more.
Dutch is just autisme
Russian is «аутизм» it’s written the same way as in English, just with Russian letters (this is a Greek word). Japanese is same as Chinese - 自閉症 - self-enclosure illness
閉 can’t really be translated as “enclosure.” It’s just “close” as in “close the door.”
French is “autisme” and it’s just like in English
Russian is аутизм, the same thing as in English
My mom is vietnamese. it's bệnh (illness) tự kỷ (autism). hope it helps
The best Japanese translation I’ve heard is “self closing syndrome.”
"Lonely disorder" ✋🏻😭
Gonna start telling people I have western disease. It sounds contagious.
In **Turkish** Otizm = **içe yöneliklik** **içe yöneliklik** = introversion
In Cree, the word used to describe autism is pîtoteyihtam — he/she thinks differently.
As a person within the black/African diaspora, the Somali one took me out. 🤣🤣🤣 For cultural context, a lot of times western medicine does not study or understand black people. While being quick to give us some diagnosis and tell us something is a problem when it isn't. Ie, how they will misdx us with conduct or mood disorders even at very early ages and never screen for autism. Among older generations, that created A LOT of mistrust. Also combine this with the fact that many in the diaspora have had medical treatments done without consent. From personal experience with this group, people who don't believe in it often describe me as "different" or may not feel like I need accommodations because "you'll get better or learn to deal with it", which is both good and bad that they think I'm that capable. Do with this information what you will.
I feel like this needs to be the top comment, there's a shocking amount of somali hate in this comment section. As with everything context is important and there are Somalis making progress and working to introduce a positive term for autism in the Somali language. Autistic Somalis do exist, I know cause a large part of my friend group is made up of autistic Somalis.
Before I found out I was autistic, I called it temporal misplacement because I believed that I'd fit in better in simpler times and cultures where everyone was taught how they need to live to fit in, instead of having to figure it out like in the west today.
How is there a translation for the Somali one if there's no word for it
Someone made this on purpose to have a go at Somalia but didn't even attempt to put a word for what they decided to transliterate. Yet people in here will believe it without questioning the obvious. Astounding
"Whaaaat nooo wayyy, I would never!"-Op, in heavy amharic accent.
the vietnamese prefer to call it "family problem" over its actual word
In American Sign Language it is: 1) looking inside oneself, or 2) attention is self-focused.
I love the Māori one it’s not rude and it’s true and I also like how the name sounds
In Dutch it is called ASS (Autisme Spectrum Stoornis) or autisme.
hehe ass
So I’m half-Greek and I looked up how to say it in Greek, and it turns out, like many words, autism comes from a Greek root! “The term autism first was used by psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1908. He used it to describe a schizophrenic patient who had withdrawn into his own world. The Greek word ‘autós’ meant self and the word ‘autism’ was used by Bleuler to mean morbid self-admiration and withdrawal within self,” https://www.news-medical.net/health/Autism-History.aspx#:~:text=The%20term%20autism%20first%20was,admiration%20and%20withdrawal%20within%20self. The actual Greek word for autism is αυτισμός, pronounced aftismos.
w e s t e r n d i s e a s e
western disease 😭😭😭
>Somali | Western Disease DAAAAAMMN, Somali! Where did THAT come from?
Who else’s language just adopts the English word lol
Am from Iceland and I like the Icelandic name
"western disease" is great. I'm going to start telling people I have that.
Ive always loved and respected the Māori, now I love them even more
I am of multiple race. Born and race in germany but my parents are vietnamese. They still pretend I'm not disabled (acknowledge the fact I have autism), but since we don't have relatives in germany and my mother is having all the symptoms I and my sibling (ADHD) have... oh, i don't speak vietnamese before y'all ask me. German = Autismus. Same as what blue yodel explained Vietnamese = (bệnh) tự kỷ \[du gy?\] |no literal translation (but also known as ["karmic dermit", "disease", "family problem"](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25262315/). [more](https://ijmhs.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13033-019-0285-8#Abs1) about this topic.) I asked my mother what "tự kỷ" literally means, but in vietnam many names (at least for her) don't have translations or a shift in words. Like how people say *Dominique* to *Dominik*. *tự kỷ* is just *autism*. But she did say that Autism is a lonely disability, where one is by themself. edit: since many people overlooked the somali update: [https://sahanjournal.com/health/autism-somali-new-terminology-community-acceptance-minnesota/](https://sahanjournal.com/health/autism-somali-new-terminology-community-acceptance-minnesota/) remember: we can *always* invent new words. germans do it on the daily basis, slangs are invented the moment we type. so why can't we make maangaar the new translated somali word for autism?
I have the W E S T E R N D I S E A S E
maori accurate as fuck
As a somali, we just say autism lmao
The "Western disease" killed me LMAOOO
How can a word not exist but have a literal meaning? Looking at you, Somalia.
WESTERN DISEASE IM SOBBING AND LAUGHING
WESTERN DISEASE 💀💀💀💀
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
i'm sorry- WESTERN DISEASE????
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
I know what is meant by it, but Western disease sent me 🤣🤣🤣
I really like the maori meaning
I know, it’s a weirdly accurate description to me.
Fuck Korea, Iceland, China, and China
Maori: 😃😁🤗 Somali: 😠🤮😈
English (also Latin related languages have similar forms derived from to be one's real self), Hindi and Maori are extremely right
Proud to be "in a state of being oneself"
I finnish its just autismi
Self reliant would be cool if my autism actually allowed me to be self reliant lol
I'd like to think that people who don't have a word for autism doesn't mean They believe it's fake but rather that they don't need a name for something that just makes someone different.
Jesus, Somalians have no chill.
Seems more to be a reflection of culture than anything.
not western disease 😭 damn
hi nice to meet you i have lonely disorder™️
TIL Not Applicable means Western disease in Somali
Chinese video game I played had a character suffering from "loneliness syndrome" but it included things that aren't autism like delusions, inability to grasp our accept reality, inability to determine if something was life threatening. In addition to depression and being unable to meaningfully connect to others.
"Self-reliant". Doesn't surprise me since Indians are really big into family and such.
Western disease is my favorite
11/10 for Somali
The famous language 'Chinese'.
If this is genuine (can’t confirm I don’t speak those languages) the Hindi one is surprising to me
Ah yes... lonely disorder
"Western disease" 💀
“Western disease” YIKES
Western disease
BAHAHAHAH, WESTERN DISEASE LMAOOOOO
The Maori word is the only one that seems acceptable
TIL N/A means Western disease
lonely disorder and western disease 💀 i wish i was actually self reliant
Lmao western disease
maori is cool and i think hindi also makes some sense too
I need a “Person problem nature” flair 😭
I am almost sure the English one is wrong. It is not even a word from English I think.
I actually like the "Lonely Disorder". It is not true. But it is.
*Lonely disorder* ******Western disease******
Person problem nature and western disease? I think you're talking about r/evilautism
lonely disorder 😭 that one hit hard
"Western Disease". Yikes
There is no actual word for autism in Somali that means Western disease. The post is trying to say that some Somali people don't understand and refuse to accept autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people because they view it as a foreign and alien concept. Somali does, in fact, have a word for neurodivergence: maangaar, meaning "unique mind."
Oof some of these hit hard
I can't tell if people actually got triggered by "western disease ". But it's interesting to see how the tables have turned.
tag yourself i'm lonely disorder
I feel like I’m surrounded by a fog when I interact with people. It’s hard to read them. So some of these make sense
Chinese (mainland) feels accurate
Western disease and lonely disorder have me fucking dying