Has Autism vs Autistic: A Quick Comparison of Person-First and Identity-First Languages
Has Autism vs Autistic: A Quick Comparison of Person-First and Identity-First Languages
By: RainbowTrie
When referring to someone on the autism spectrum, there are generally two options.
You could refer to them as:
A. A person WITH AUTISM (or a person who HAS AUTISM)
or
B. An AUTISTIC person
Option A is an example of Person-First language. The idea is to address the person first and the disability second in an effort to be more humanizing and avoid degrading slurs. It is often used by medical professionals, habilitation therapists, and some parents.
Option B is an example of Identity-First language. It is gaining popularity within autistic communities and is supported due to the encompassing nature of autism. Many individuals embrace autism as a major part of their identity and dont consider their personhood to be separated from it.
Neither option is entirely correct or incorrect. Rather, both come with their own set of pros and cons.
Always respect the choice of the autistic individual should they make it known. If the individual is a child, respect the choice of their parent.
If youre worried about making a mistake, the best thing to do is just ask. Theyll be glad you did – as it shows that youre knowledgeable, aware, and considerate of their disability. Some people have a strong preference for either Person-First or Identity-First language and some dont care either way. The most important thing is that we respect the right of autistic individuals to be addressed in a way that they find accepting and compassionate.
More Resources:
1. Identity First Language Overview
2. Using the Word Autistic VS Saying Someone Has Autism
3. Examples of using Person-First and Identity-First Language
@RainbowTrie
This is an awesome read. There seems to be a debate with using the correct terminology, and I found this post to be really informative.
Thank you <3
@RainbowTrie - Thank you for this - it's really helpful! In other areas I've focused on, for instance eating disorders, there is a big push for person-first, which makes a lot of sense to me (as being called an anorexic or a bulimic was way more offensive to me than a person with anorexia / with bulimia), so I applied that more broadly, but it's helpful for me to understand that it's not always the preference. Will definitely make a better effort going forward!
I personally like to think of video games in this situation.
I can't run playstation(nt) games because I'm an xbox. and i like to be called an xbox, not a "console that runs xbox games"
but in the end, you do you with what you like to be called.
@peachkitty
great analogy!!
@RainbowTrie - THANK YOU!
Honestly I did not read your whole post here yet, but I want to say thanks for bringing up this subject. People-first Language is HUGE in my book. I am very glad to see it here, somewhere!, at 7cups - even if the post was from like 4-5 yrs ago! If I could (or knew how to), I would highlight this post or have everyone who wants to be in the group chat rooms read this first - or put it at the top of this subcommunity - or something. There are so many times I catch this (hearing not person first language) from others IRL. I hope to not be around if anyone is using it about me :\ I am a person. I struggle with bipolar disorder, true. But first I am a person - same as you ... and that gives us both immense value. Then, yes, I deal with mental illness and medications every day and such ... but I'm sure you deal with *something* every day. Something you love or hate or have no opinion about but just has to be done. I wish we could get closer to understanding that:
We are all human beings,
we all have struggles problems and things we wish we didn't have to deal with, but
that is what makes us unique and
THAT is what makes us each wonderful! :)
Thank you for writing this, Rainbow. 
<3 Platy
@RainbowTrie
Thank you for the information