News: The touchy terms related to autism
Yikes! Is it OK or a mistake to say...?
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US television’s Today Show ran a segment by Laura T. Coffey that examined debates about the language used in conversations about autism. Ms. Coffey had a good lede:
The discussions you’ll find about autism in the wilds of the internet may shock and confuse you. Fights about autism-related terminology and therapies can be extreme and intense — even though all the people weighing in want what’s best for autistic people.
Ms. Coffey tackled topics such as identity-first vs. person-first language, levels of functioning, Autism Awareness Month, and more. She didn’t provide a definitive guide—say “this,” not “that”—but she does capture some of the disagreement. She pitches the piece for parents, but it will be useful to professionals who would benefit from a glimpse about how the popular press treats these sorts of issues.
I was trained as a people firster, eg. “He is a person who stutters,” not he is a “stutterer.” The latter, when describing a person, implies “allness,- that one knows about the person by knowing the label. Catholic, Jew, Black, etc. The suggestion to describe the behavior seems the best approach. “(The person), repeats the first syllable, struggles to complete the word, etc.” No label necessary. No two people with same label are alike, or often, even similar.
The Coffey article is a good basic primer to share widely. I think it sometimes comes as a surprise to those working in the field what other (lay) people *don’t* know about terminology, perceptions, debunked therapies and theories, etc.