As the old joke goes, you can start with my name. However, since humans like categories and labels (and autistic people, in particular, tend to like categories) let’s tackle the labels issue.
Am I autistic, or do I have autism, or am I an autist? This matter of nomenclature is one of personal choice. The person or people you are thinking of may differ from your expectation, and from each other, as to which term they prefer. Please respect their choice.
For myself, I consider myself to be autistic, and am happy with being referred to as an autist. Despite it being called “Autism Spectrum Disorder” (ASD) I do not see myself as having a ‘disorder’ as that makes it sound like something to be cured. Newsflash: it is not ‘curable’ any more than being redheaded is ‘curable’ – we are born autistic…and I have yet to meet another autist who wants to be ‘cured’.
“Autists are the ultimate square pegs, and the problem with pounding a square peg into a round hole is not that the hammering is hard work. It’s that you’re destroying the peg.” – Paul Collins
Other autistic people prefer to say that they ‘have autism’ because they do not want people to see their autism as being the totality of who they are as a human being.
Because of my own personal preference, and because it helps me if I am consistent, in this blog I will use ‘autistic people’ or ‘autists’ rather than ‘people with autism’ (and hey, it’s fewer words to type, too).
However, if the person you have in mind can communicate, chances
are that they will not mind being asked which term they prefer (assuming they
have been assessed). If you are unsure
if they have been assessed, be gentle with how you ask if they have been – they
may have a Rain Man image of autistic people in their head, and not identify with
that.
No comments:
Post a Comment