Autistic or with autism?

[Autismbyautistics]

Hi, I frequent another forum and only very occasionally come over here(though not to post, usually just read stuff) but as I'd like ask some questions for a post I'm very slowly making up I thought I would also post here. Hopefully it's fine to post this, if not sorry you can just delete this.

Basically, I'm very slowly making a post that could be shared on the internet that has myths and facts about autism and autistics, that is written by autistics, as I often find awareness posts tend to not be written by autistics or only have a wee bit of input by autistics.

Anyways, I'd like to get the opinion of a variety of autistic people about whether they prefer autistic or person with autism, so I would be able to say however many prefer this rather than just say lots.

The questions

Do you prefer autistic or person with autism?

Do you mind if others say person with autism rather than autistic? (This is not when people insist on person with autism, but maybe use both interchangeably)

Do you like it if people insist you shouldn’t say autistic and should say person with autism instead?

Do you like functioning levels, or would you prefer just autism or aspergers?

Do you prefer autism spectrum disorder ASD or autism spectrum condition ASC? (I only ask as I’ve come across asc quite a few times)

Also if you have any ideas of myths that would be great too, as I've probably missed some off the list I have.

Thanks.

 

[Warmheart]

I'm Autastic.

Thank you for asking. I prefer to be referred to as autistic. "A person with autism" makes it sound like I'm wearing someone else's pants. (Really, I'm lucky to be wearing my own. D'oh! )

I am fine with the term ASD. ASC is used mainly in UK and Australia, I believe. While I find ASC more respectful of one's personhood, I do understand why ASD is used as some are quite significantly challenged.

Personally, I'm not a fan of functioning labels. "Low functioning" seems to disregard someone's personhood. A brilliant mind and sparkling personality often awaits discovery behind a non-verbal or significantly impacted exterior.
"High functioning" seems to imply those who are mainly verbal aren't significantly challenged & in need of supports. High expectations leads to many with ASD to "achieve their way" into life-crashing burnouts, if not hospitalizations. It's important to remember that functioning varies in an individual according to situation, health, other factors.

There are lots of myths surrounding us. My least fave myth: Autistics have no empathy. We may be challenged with cognitive empathy (reading facial expressions, body language, social cues) , but our affective empathy (ability to feel for and with someone, once we do know how they feel) is wonderful. People may need to tell us how they feel. We have tons of kindness and compassion, it's simply that we are often quite challenged in expressing it. We need neurotypicals to expect that our expressions of warmth, nurturing, love, and tenderness might seem different than what may be expected of someone not on the spectrum.
For many of us with deeply caring hearts, autism is compassion, caged.

 

[ancusmitis]

I don't accept that it's an either/or. Some people insist on one or the other for political reasons; many of the "with" people--I actually call them "person-firsters"--are non-autistics who want to be seen as liberal and socially responsible. I find it absolutely infuriating when they "correct" me. It is the most absurd pretense, to say you are "speaking for" autistics while asserting control over us. I'm free to define myself as an individual and to honestly state my experiences (or keep them hidden) if and how I want to.

But I do not insist that you say autistic; I will choose one over the other for the sake of verbal rhythm and scansion. I don't say "with autism" very often, but on the few occasions where I have, no one tried to correct me that I remember. I think it's mainly the person-firsters who are all about control. But I may be letting myself be biased by a handful of bad experiences.

 

[Ste11aeres]

Personally prefer the term Aspie, to describe myself. Yes, I know about the DSM V, and no, my preference has nothing to do with a snobbery against more deeply autistics persons, and yes, I do acknowledge the ASD spectrum. But I feel that "Aspie" presents a more readily understandable concept of what I am like, whereas "autistic" encompasses such a wide spectrum, that it necessitates a long following explanation.
I find it annoying when someone insists on "person first" language, even though I know the person is well intentioned. It's okay if someone uses the term "with autism". I only get annoyed when someone insists that it's the only term that should be used at all.
When writing, I usually just use the term "ASD".

 

[StephF]

I'd choose to identify myself as "A person with Asperger's". That way I am a person not a diagnosis.

 

[Sass]

Autistic - I wouldn't be able to separate the way I think from the bits of brain that are wired differently. And I don't want to. If I took them away, well then I'd be someone else.

 

[Sass]

Also, try reading Neurotribes, it might answer a lot of these questions.

 

[Ezra]

Either is fine with me.
I usually say I have autism, but my friends in the forum I'm on the most on refer to me as being autistic.

 

[Wireless]

As an NT I get worried about saying the wrong thing. Everyone has their preferences.
But, ultimately I try avoiding using any labels. A person is a person.

 

[dragonwolf]

Do you prefer autistic or person with autism?

Generally speaking, I prefer "Autistic" or "Aspie." It's not uncommon for me to say "Autistic person," too.

Do you mind if others say person with autism rather than autistic? (This is not when people insist on person with autism, but maybe use both interchangeably)

I don't much care which way they do it. I use both interchangeably sometimes, usually depending on how the sentence structure sounds. For the record, I do it with all things that have multiple ways of doing it (like Diabetes or whatever).

Do you like it if people insist you shouldn’t say autistic and should say person with autism instead?

If they're Autistic, themselves, and prefer person-first language, then I'll try to remember to use it, and I'm okay with it, especially when referring to that person, specifically. If it's the more usual case of a non-Autistic person insisting that I use it for everyone, then I'm liable to smack them (literally or figuratively) for dictating to me, an Autistic person, which method to use, because that is the height of hypocrisy.

Do you like functioning levels, or would you prefer just autism or aspergers?

I'll use them, sometimes, just because I have no other better distinguishing verbiage that sounds right, but I don't like it, and try to only use it in the general sense or if it's for a specific person, I'll use it if it was their diagnosis and in quotes (usually as a way of proving that such labels are pointless). When I can, I prefer to use descriptors of their strengths or weaknesses, if possible (ie - non-verbal, etc).

Do you prefer autism spectrum disorder ASD or autism spectrum condition ASC? (I only ask as I’ve come across asc quite a few times)

That seems to be a regional thing. I kind of like "condition" better, now that I think about it, but both seem weird to me, probably due to the range ASC/D covers and such words aren't really adequate for most cases.

Also if you have any ideas of myths that would be great too, as I've probably missed some off the list I have.

Myth - Autistic = violent (like...mass shooter violent). No. No, we're not. Being Autistic does not inherently make us more prone to harming others, especially not in that way. Most of us don't like hurting others. Hell, we do it on a near-daily basis unintentionally, and it eats most of us up, because we don't want to hurt people.

 

[zurb]

Neither! I hate both terms equally. I also really hate 'aspergic', which thankfully is not common.
I prefer the terms ‘aspie’ and ‘autie’.
Both are terms the community use for themselves (ie, self identification) and don't carry the connotation of something wrong/missing/extra.

 

[wyverary]

It really depends on the situation. The vast majority of times, I've learned, the best way for me to explain it to someone is "I am on the autism spectrum," which is neither, of course, but probably falls closer to the "I am autistic" end.

I strongly believe that parsing language and meaning is important, but sometimes I'm unsure of where to draw the line. To me, it doesn't really matter...I can't say "I have autism" as my "official" diagnoses are Aspergers with a side of Nonverbal Learning Disorder, and explicitly saying "I am autistic" more often than not plants a negative view in the person's mind...though perhaps we can (and definitely should) change that.

Just my meandering thoughts, and a couple of pennies.