Why do some people find the word "autistic" offens

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I don't normally hear this from autistics, but there are some neurotypicals who find it offensive to call an autistic person autistic. They'll say things like "Not autistic, 'has autism."

My question is what makes "has autism" any less offensive than "autistic?" And why is "autistic" even considered offensive at all.

That's news to me! It may be related to people's need for PC-ness, which has gone overboard recently.

Some people think "person first" language is better and more appropriate for referring to people, to emphasize that people are not their diagnoses.

I don't really care for it, and I think that sometimes it works to minimize issues at times.

I also like this article by Jim Sinclair:

http://www.cafemom.com/journals/read/43 ... m_Sinclair

I never hard that one. My guess is that being autistic has a stigma? Although having autism is stigmatized too?

Or maybe it implies that autism is everything in the person whereas having autism just means that autism is 1 component of the person and the person has so much more to them then just there autism.

My theory...

Autism is stigmatized, period. Being autistic is stigmatized.

I guess, in a related way, I can see someone resenting the term African-American. They'd probably shout, "Hey! I'm an American before I'm an African. Stop labeling me!"

But that's just how the English language works. The adjective "African" describes what sub-group of "American" they are. "American-African" would refer to an American or someone of American decent living in Africa. Why would people be offended simply because the rules of the English language dictate that the adjective comes before the noun? Well I guess we could refer to them as "Americans of Africa" if some of them prefer that word order instead.

My problem with it is that they're not the autistic one! I mean, if an autistic has a problem with it, then fine. But why do they need to PCize a term that isn't even used for them (NTs)

I have heard many more white people complain about and express resentment for the label "African-American" than I have black people.

That's "European-American", missy!

j/k

Coming up next: video of an Autistic-American reciting pi to 100 numbers. Yikes!

I would like to say that you are truly on a roll today.

I have seen a few parents say including my own, that their kid is not autistic but yet they have AS or PDD-NOS. Mine will say I have autism but I am not autistic. To some people, autistic is a horrible thing to be so they prefer other labels like PDD-NOS or Asperger's or say they have autism.

I don't find the word, autistic offensive at all. The thing that I find offensive is peoples attitude towards the word, to the point of not wanting to say it, because they're scared of that word.

I don't really mind when people use 'person with Autism' unless they insist on saying it no other way. But yeah, people are way too concerned with 'political correctness' whether or not something is insulting to the person being referenced. Personally, I think of it kind of like how hearing people use the term 'hearing impaired' while culturally Deaf people prefer the term d/Deaf. (I'm somewhat tempted to use the term 'person with hearing' somewhere now. Besides here.)

On the subject of 'African-American,' I hear that term can really bring up problems if you happen to use it in reference to a non-American African. I guess to them it's almost as ludicrous as calling someone visiting from Europe a 'Europian-American.'

One thing I've heard (and pretty well agree with) is that, in some ways, trying not to 'separate' people is actually hurting diversity: they're still focussing on it being a problem. If society really wanted people to not take issue on things like skin color, it would probably be better for everyone not to mention it as an issue; eventually, people could forget that it could be an issue.

Person-first is certainly the PC way of doing things, not defining a person by their disability - but in all fairness most [disabled people] I know don't mind either way, and for conditions such as ours, when it is such a big part of who we are, person-first language isn't totally appropriate.

It's NT's who prefer person-first, because they think they're helping us by pointing out we're people first - well-meaning, but missing the point; autism isn't offensive, and it is who we are. I'm waiting for the day when someone attempts to correct me so I can go ahead and correct them right back, I prefer 'autistic' over 'person with autism' not just because autism is who I am but because it's not separate and because it gives a sense of identity which is important to those of us who are autistic and for disabled people.