Call Me Autistic
I am autistic. I would prefer to be called "autistic", rather than "a person with autism".
When people say "person with autism", it's like they're trying to make the point that they don't think autism is an important part of me; that I'm more than just autism. Technically, they're right; I am more than just a stereotype of autism. But autism is a significant part of my personality; I'm not carrying it around like some sort of extra baggage.
I am also female; being female doesn't define all I am. I don't even consider my gender very important. But people don't call me "a person with femaleness", the way they might refer to me as "a person with autism". What's the difference? Why is it considered offensive for someone to describe me as "an autistic person"?
My gender is perceived as a neutral aspect of me, even though it does not define most of what I am; so it is not considered offensive to call me "a woman". My femaleness doesn't have to be hidden, doesn't have to be placed after the "person", because the word "woman" already means human to just about anyone who says it.
When people say "a person with autism", they are distancing "autism" from the concept of my identity. That's the whole point of person-first language; it creates a phrase that reminds the speaker that the condition is not the person.
It's considered to be offensive to link "autism" to my identity. This implies that, to someone using person-first language, the autism they are trying to distance from me is NOT a neutral thing, but something that ought to be hidden, something that people shouldn't point out for fear of embarrassing me.
When you say I am "a person with autism", you are saying that being autistic is a bad thing, a thing that you don't want to connect too closely with me, because if you did, that would be offensive. That would mean describing me as "autistic" rather than "human".
But doesn't "autistic" imply "human", just like "woman" does? And if it doesn't, why doesn't it?
There is nothing wrong with being autistic. There is nothing wrong with having any disability. If you take for granted that autism (and disability in general) are neutral aspects of a person that should not be sources of shame or stigma, then person-first language becomes just as silly as calling a woman "a person with femaleness".
I won't be particularly annoyed with anyone using person-first language; after all, it seems nowadays to be a social signal that you are doing your best to do away with your own mental copies of the cultural beliefs that made person-first language necessary in the first place. To avoid being mistaken for someone who stereotypes people into categories labeled by their disabilities and nothing else, it's probably quite a great deal more polite to use the awkward "person with" wording, because when you don't, people assume it is because you are ignorant and prejudiced, rather than because you are tired of clumsy circumlocutions which imply that disability is something to be ashamed of.
Usually I use person-first language; but I draw the line when I start talking about myself, or about autism. I don't want to have my autism hidden behind a prepositional phrase. I am simply autistic, adjective autistic, a descriptive word about myself that isn't any different than being called a short, brown-haired, female me.
There needs to be a lot less emphasis on pretending disability isn't important, and a lot more emphasis on understanding that people ARE important.
When people say "person with autism", it's like they're trying to make the point that they don't think autism is an important part of me; that I'm more than just autism. Technically, they're right; I am more than just a stereotype of autism. But autism is a significant part of my personality; I'm not carrying it around like some sort of extra baggage.
I am also female; being female doesn't define all I am. I don't even consider my gender very important. But people don't call me "a person with femaleness", the way they might refer to me as "a person with autism". What's the difference? Why is it considered offensive for someone to describe me as "an autistic person"?
My gender is perceived as a neutral aspect of me, even though it does not define most of what I am; so it is not considered offensive to call me "a woman". My femaleness doesn't have to be hidden, doesn't have to be placed after the "person", because the word "woman" already means human to just about anyone who says it.
When people say "a person with autism", they are distancing "autism" from the concept of my identity. That's the whole point of person-first language; it creates a phrase that reminds the speaker that the condition is not the person.
It's considered to be offensive to link "autism" to my identity. This implies that, to someone using person-first language, the autism they are trying to distance from me is NOT a neutral thing, but something that ought to be hidden, something that people shouldn't point out for fear of embarrassing me.
When you say I am "a person with autism", you are saying that being autistic is a bad thing, a thing that you don't want to connect too closely with me, because if you did, that would be offensive. That would mean describing me as "autistic" rather than "human".
But doesn't "autistic" imply "human", just like "woman" does? And if it doesn't, why doesn't it?
There is nothing wrong with being autistic. There is nothing wrong with having any disability. If you take for granted that autism (and disability in general) are neutral aspects of a person that should not be sources of shame or stigma, then person-first language becomes just as silly as calling a woman "a person with femaleness".
I won't be particularly annoyed with anyone using person-first language; after all, it seems nowadays to be a social signal that you are doing your best to do away with your own mental copies of the cultural beliefs that made person-first language necessary in the first place. To avoid being mistaken for someone who stereotypes people into categories labeled by their disabilities and nothing else, it's probably quite a great deal more polite to use the awkward "person with" wording, because when you don't, people assume it is because you are ignorant and prejudiced, rather than because you are tired of clumsy circumlocutions which imply that disability is something to be ashamed of.
Usually I use person-first language; but I draw the line when I start talking about myself, or about autism. I don't want to have my autism hidden behind a prepositional phrase. I am simply autistic, adjective autistic, a descriptive word about myself that isn't any different than being called a short, brown-haired, female me.
There needs to be a lot less emphasis on pretending disability isn't important, and a lot more emphasis on understanding that people ARE important.