There seems to be a disconnect between those who are connected with Âûtistic people and those who are actually Âûtistic. It seems that those connected with Âûtistics are reticent to refer to those with whom they are connected by identity first language.
There are many blogs out there that express this dilemma more eloquently than I can, and I don’t intend a treatise on the whole issue. My intention here is to highlight a couple of things briefly.
Firstly. Âûtism is not something I caught. It’s not something that is additional to me, it is intricately part of me. It is utterly interwoven into every fibre of who I am. It is a fundamental aspect of my neurological makeup.
Secondly. It is my choice. Yes. it is my choice to declare how I want to be referred to. I don’t actually care if you were trained to use person first language, I don’t actually care at all. It is disrespectful to my wishes and just bloody rude to refer to me as a person with autism, or having autism.
A quick comparison.
We are seemingly in the era of acceptance that sexual orientation is hard wired. That a persons sexuality is intimately a part of them. Ok. Good.
Do we say a person with gayness? A person with Lesbianism?
Imagine the fury from the LGBITQ community and rightly so too.
What about people who have no sight. Do we say a person with blindness.
Why is it that this simple request from us in the Âûtistic community so hard for the professional community to accept and to respect.
No I am not a person with Autism. No I don’t have Autism. No I am not sick I am not disordered.
I am Âûtistic. Proudly Âûtistic and Neurodivergent. Get over it. Respect it. Let’s get passed this rubbish and move on to more important things like. Destroying MMS, like thwarting the cure culture that wants to try anything and will stop at nothing to run their horrendous experiments.
I am proudly Âûtistic, I will shout it from the mountaintops, the building tops. But I want to shout more loudly – look over their at what these horrible people are doing to abuse us. Please stop it. Please respect us. Please don’t let this happen. Shut down that fraud. Put that charlatan where they belong.
Âûtistic voices let us unite behind our neurodivergence and declare our freedom, our shared humanity, our right to fair treatment and to be listened to.
A wonderful challenge to perspective. Comments are disabled, please comment on the original post, and thank you!
Thanks for the reblog
Thanks for writing a really important and relatable post. 🙂
Reblogged this on Never Less Than Everything and commented:
A thoughtful look at how we think, and one that should help us to always consider our perspective. Thank you! (Comments are disabled, please comment on the original post)
This is an excellent and deeply insightful post. Thank you for these words.
Incisive, truthful, healing stuff that points to where autistic leaders in general have headed almost unanimously now. Very nearly. I still see Person First language in those few struggling with past commitments to other language from earlier eras, and from those newer folk who have some remaining issues with the concept of being autistic defining in part who they really are. It just does not come gently to some in a certain frame of mind, a certain environment, a certain milieu. The former to be solved by time and patience, the latter to be solved by support and effort. And it matters deeply. For it is not just a label, we know that, because a change of heart on the label represents something fundamentally shifting beneath. Huge change. Thank you. Thank you..
hey there, can i please use your works for my identity 1st campaign and if yes, what name should i credit it with? thanks
Yes I wold be honoured. Richard Johnson Âû. Fb is
As I often say, I am a woman, not a person with womanhood. I have a sister, not a person with sisterhood. I have friends, not people with friendship. Some people still don’t understand it, though.
Reblogged this on Spectrum Perspectives and commented:
A little bit of respect goes a REALLY long way.
Thank you. I’m a non-autistic parent and was informed early on by our doctors and trained in my job as a disability advocate to use Person First Language with all disabilities at all times unless otherwise indicated by the disabled individual. The idea behind it is that you should “see the person before their disability without ignoring their disability.”
Because of blogs and self-advocates such as yourself, I’ve retrained myself and I’m grateful. At 12, my daughter has been using Identity First Language for a few years. When I have autistic consumers, I use Identity First Language with them and let them know they have a choice in terminology. With other consumers of other disabilities, I ask if they have a preference because I need the education. What surprises me is that people don’t know they have a choice in how to refer to themselves and/or their disabilities.
I truly am grateful for posts like this one. I try to advocate and be an ally for my child and individuals like her, but it’s not the same. People like you are the real voices. #ActuallyAutistic