Autistic or Person with Autism??? How about… we listen to each other and stop making demands about how we describe our own experiences??!

On Facebook I recently shared a post that had the word “Autistics” in it… and was surprised that there was pushback from people who thought correcting an Autistic Person on how they describe their own experience was an acceptable thing to do in my space.

You must be new here…

Someone even had the audacity to demand the Autistic authors should’ve used the phase “adults, or children with autism” but NEVER “Autistic” or “Autistics”.

“Person first language”?

Because you need to be reminded we’re people?

That’s a you problem. fix it. I don’t have time to wait around for you to get your head right about Autistic People.

You can have your opinion on what words you like and don’t like, but don’t push it on other people.

Use your opinion to inform how you speak and write, but don’t tell other people how to describe themselves or their experiences.

Many of us do say “Autistics” or “Autistic People” and we don’t feel it’s dehumanizing.

There are some (a small minority) who do describe themselves as “a person with autism” or “people with autism” and those individual preferences should be respected-but not pushed on everyone else.

I know they’re Autistic People who hate the word “Autistics”, but that’s a personal thing for them.

Honestly, because people hate the word “Autistics” so much it makes me wanna use it even more.

As an Autistic Person I personally say “Autistics” all the time to describe my experience and when I’m writing in my own words - ESPECIALLY because I’ve been told not to by other Autistics.

The Autistic Community has a bad habit of thinking there is a “one right way” and a “one wrong way,” to describe the Autistic experience.

I know we can have black-and-white thinking, but we need to push this because the whole “good and evil” “right and wrong” binary thinking is part of the problem and it holds us all back.

I myself, was guilty of this once upon a time - and I’m trying to get better about it.

Please don’t tell other people how they should use language to describe their experiences.

That’s literally language policing.

It is enforcing social heiarchies and norms by controlling how other people speak about themselves and their own experiences.

If you feel the words ”Autistic” and “Autistics” are dehumanizing… I have a question:

Where did this belief come from???

What assumptions cause you to feel this way about the word “Autistic”?

I AM AUTISTIC.

I am absolutely NOT “a person with autism”.

My “autism” can’t be removed from me like it is some kind of a problem. It is foundational to who I am as a person. I would not be ME without it.

DO NOT ever tell Autistic People how to describe themselves on my page. If you ever do this, I will ban you and you will never be allowed back.

If you’re not Autistic yourself, you absolutely have no place making comments like this at all.

Even if you are Autistic, it’s not appropriate to tell other others, who are also Autistic, how they can describe their experiences.

If you yourself are Autistic and want to be described differently, you’re welcome to do so but do not police the other Autistic People here on how they can describe their own experiences.

Thanks for reading.

- Lyric

Lyric, sitting in their RV