I’d like to start off by saying I have autism.
Many people - autistic and otherwise - have debated whether to refer to us as autistic people, or people with autism.
I’m aware that some people with autism prefer the former description, autistic people. Personally, I don’t mind either description. I’d guess most of us aren’t that bothered, although I don’t know for sure.
That being said, the latter description, people with autism, is widely considered to be more politically correct.
Neurotypical people will visit this community, and we don’t want to offend them by using the incorrect term to describe ourselves.
/s, by the way. Never let an NT tell you what to call yourself.
I’m hoping the /s was for the whole post. Lol. Person-first language is problematic in many more ways than also being poor grammatically. Person with X indicates that the person has a medical affliction like Covid. Autism isn’t an affliction; it’s a more-common-than-you-think phenotype of humans that’s been in existence for centuries if not longer. Like red hair or blue eyes. I’m not sick; I’m just different. I’m a correct zebra not a sick horse.
Reaches the end of the post
“Quick, take the downvote back!”
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Oh you got me steaming until I read the last line 😂 well done!
I keep my autism in my backpack everywhere I go.
I heard a pocket size version of it being out recently
In some states you can just put it on your driver’s license and it is stored ona database somewhere. Sounds convenient
It’s between the phone and the phone case, isn’t it?
there was about to be a whole paragraph written until i saw “/s”
Damn it; I was about to go off on you 🤣
Damn this page took a long time to load what with the influx of new users today, that was a long time sitting with my blood pressure rising before I got to the /s lol
That being said, the latter description, people with autism, is widely considered to be more politically correct.
I’d heard (from an autistic person) that it’s generally the other way around.
I may be mis-remembering some of what he said, but he seemed to indicate “with” is usually used a bit more for temporary, or maybe treatable conditions. He described it in terms of his identity, he is autistic.
…
Just spent 10 minutes thinking about all of the above and then got to your “/s”. Feeling like I took a lot of the above too literally… Ya got me!
Noting the /s:
It’s so weird the NTs are about stuff like this. It reminds me about the “Latinx” when it came about.
- posts completely sarcastic post in autism subreddit *
We come in different flavours. I don’t get sarcasm at all unless it’s spelled out like OP. But my autistic uncle is the most sarcastic MF you’ll ever meet
I’m not ND, but I have a child who is ND and I hang out in the spaces. I don’t think even between autistic people there is a consensus. I say “autistic person” because I consider autism to be a fundamental trait like blindness or height. We don’t say “person with blindness” or “person with height” we say “blind person” and “tall person”. Autism is something you are born with and something that cannot be changed about you, so thus it’s “autistic people” for me, but I’ve seen autistic people who’ve been offended by “autistic people” and wanted people to say “people with autism”. I’m not sure it’s battle that can be won if there’s not consensus within the group about it.
Is it weird to have different preferences depending on the language I speak?
In English I really prefer Autistic person/identity first, over person with Autism/person first. The last seems to me a bit too pretentious for me, as if you really need to pay so much extra attention to what is wrong with me.
In my native Dutch however I somewhat more align with person first. Basicly you have three options: -ik ben Autistisch/I am Autistic -Ik ben een Autist/I am a Autistic -ik heb Autisme/I have autism The first and last option I don’t really mind wich one is used, although to describe myself I would use the first. But the middle one. Well Autist I have heard multiple times used as a curse word. (Dutch tend to use a diseases as curses to describe people) And well that does not help you feel good about yourself, or coming out of the Autism close for one thing. But even outside of people who do this, it made me avoid using that word to describe myself. As I do not want to be associated with the stereotype that belongs with that curse.
so yeah, I always find this an interesting but slightly difficult to explain question. And shows once more; words matter.
It’s funny, I’m from Denmark where we also have those three ways of referring to autistic people but I much prefer the equivalent to the first and second option in Danish. Autism isn’t really used as a curse word here though it is used in a derogatory manner by some to mean something is stupid or odd.
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Without reading any of the comments, I’ll share this…
Personally, I use “I’m autistic,” not “I have autism.” It’s so ingrained in how I’ve experienced & interacted with the world. There is literally no aspect of my personality, emotional processing, etc. that hasn’t been significantly touched by it in some way. However, I can see how others may not have that same relationship, and a presumption of “autistic” can be problematic to those that prefer “have autism.”
As with anything, always ask what the other person prefers, and kindness goes a long way.
I’m interested to see what others wrote on the subject. :-)
NTs, you can’t “be with” autism like how you can’t be with your own identity. But you can be with some sense and understanding, so please (although some NDs may disagree- in which case, well, we can’t tell them what they are lol, respect is needed here, so let them… have it I guess -[pun intended])
