Preference of the terms "Autistic" or "Person with Autism"?
naturalplastic,
Person first.
I have Autism and the signs and symptoms I display are why I have Autism, but it's not my personality, me. I meet the diagnostic criteria, so I was diagnosed. Whilst I may have trouble showing who I am due to the Autism, the Autism isn't who I am. The same can be said for the Trigeminal Neuralgia. I'll show far less of me during a decent attack of such than even the Autism. Things get tricky when it comes to personality disorders, where that tends to be the person. I don't have any of those (they tested me for those all the same). Organic disorders will be similar to personality disorders, along with traumatic brain injuries.
I know someone without Autism who is basically me in personality.
"person with autism" contains too many syllables and sounds awkward
Thus far, the only species where anyone has been diagnosed with autism is humans. To say someone is autistic thus (correctly) implies that someone is human
Furthermore what is so great about being a human?
I am Chinese. I don't say "person from Asian descent"
Tongue twister
Saying "I am Chinese" does not "dehumanize" me any more than saying "I am a person of Chinese descent"
Semantics
Pragmatics
Linguistics
Autistic person.
We are born autistic, so it's not an add-on or a suitcase. It's inherent to how we were created.
We wouldn't say:
A person with blackness (or any other racial heritage)
A person with maleness or femaleness (assuming we aren't discussing transgender or fluid people)
A person with goodness / badness
A person with tallness or shortness
It's who we are.
I don't understand making it an accessory, or being ashamed of it like we have to be a "person first".
We're still people even if we're autistic people.
_________________
And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.
That is my entire point, classifying people is not in itself a dehumanising process, and you have not dehumanised them by using a classification system such as hair colour, or their dominant hand they use to perform activities. I was simply wondering that dehumanisation occurs with the use of the word "autistic" as I have not perceived that dehumanisation occurs when using the word "autistic". I only provided the hair colour classification as an example to demonstrate that classifying people isn't dehumanising, it can actually just be a neutral statement.
I use the terms "autistic" and "autist". I don't like when people use "person with autism" and direct it at me, because it asserts that autism is somehow separate from me and hasn't shaped my personality, likes/dislikes, relationships, etc. my whole life. I'd be a very, very different person if I suddenly didn't have autism, and it is 100% a part of me.
It doesn't matter to me which order the words are put in; it doesn't make any difference to me.
If it is important to some people that is fine, but I have heard of some social media figures within the Autism community being rejected and bullied for not using the person first terminology that a certain section of the community prefers. I don't think that is right.
Sometimes there can be a very fine and rather fuzzy line between activist and bully.
_________________
"There are a thousand things that can happen when you go light a rocket engine, and only one of them is good."
Tom Mueller of SpaceX, in Air and Space, Jan. 2011
I'm surprised to see the result so far of the poll. No one prefers "person with autism". I think this kind of discussion sometimes happens in the autism community: person-first language and identity-first language. In this case "person with autism" is person-first language and autistic person is identity-first language. I thought in the past many people on the spectrum preferred person-first language but now it seems to have changed.
I don't really have a preference myself. "Autistic" is easier to use but I've heard "autistic" used as a derogatory term like "ret*d" by some people. Sometimes a neutral term gets used as a derogatory term repeatedly and eventually become a widely recognized derogatory term. I get a feeling that "autistic" is becoming one. It's quite deep rooted as some people think autistic traits are something to laugh about.
IMO, "person with x" language works when you can imagine the person without the condition and they'd still be the same person. If I lost my hearing, my personality wouldn't change; if I got it back 10 years later, I'd still be me. To take the autism out without fundamentally changing who I am or how I relate to the world, however, is impossible.
I usually say I am autistic, but like my diabetes diagnosis, I can also use
" I have autism" in conversation or communications sometimes.
I have diabetes, I am diabetic. Communication discussing the condition either way.
I am autistic, I have autism. Ditto above.
_________________
https://oldladywithautism.blog/
"Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.” Samuel Johnson
ASPartOfMe
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Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,483
Location: Long Island, New York
’Autistic’ Or ‘Person With Autism’? It Depends
For the study, researchers surveyed 299 adults with autism, 81 parents of those on the spectrum, 44 family members or friends, 207 autism professionals and 97 people with no ties to the autism community.
The vast majority of adults with an autism diagnosis — 87% — preferred identity-first language such as “I am autistic” to describe themselves, according to findings published recently in the journal Autism.
Notably, however, the study authors point out that this leaves a “sizable minority” of individuals with autism who chose person-first language.
A majority of parents liked identity-first language best. But the trend flipped for the autism professionals and the friends and family members surveyed. People in these groups were more likely to prefer person-first terms while those with no affiliation to the autism community were pretty evenly split on whether to use person-first or identity-first language.
The takeaway, the researchers said, is how important it is for individuals to ask what members of the autism community prefer.
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
It is Autism Acceptance Month
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 02 Dec 2022, 11:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
Doberdoofus
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Age: 51
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 1,166
Location: Orbiting Wrong Planet
I'm indifferent to all words used to describe my neurological difference, even ones that some find offensive
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I don't follow society's rules. But that doesn't mean there aren't rules I have to follow when the Dark Passenger calls.
Don't be so eager to be offended. The narcissism of small differences leads to the most boring kind of conformity.
Looks like most Aspies don't want person-first nomenclature then. It seems that health professionals have decided what's good for us without asking. Personally I don't see why anybody would prefer person-first anything, but if a ND really wanted me to use it, then it'd probably be a case of "oh allright then, it doesn't make sense to me but it doesn't have to." Left to my own devices I'd just use go for the easiest, and that's not the person-first one. I don't normally mix with people who would use my choice as an excuse for Aspie-bashing, and I'd expect them to mock me if I did use person-first to them. The health professionals' views don't matter much to me in this respect.
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