RE: To call them autistic or people with autism
January 7, 2016 at 5:42 pm
(This post was last modified: January 7, 2016 at 5:42 pm by c172.)
(January 7, 2016 at 3:59 pm)Lemonvariable72 Wrote: So I'm sitting in a communications class that is a week long, for college. And of course something that came up was political correctness. Now the example of autism came up and the teacher asked about this example "what is better, to call someone with autism autistic, or say they are a person with autism." Now I am autistic and I spoke up and said, " I said I have high functioning autism and I prefer to be simply called autistic, because it is short and to the point." I got told I was wrong and that it is better to call them a person with autism. The teacher ( who is actually very good) then went on to explain about calling learning disabled kids in elementary and Jr high exceptional instead of disabled. That is downright stupid because these kids (I lived it) have a hard enough time being taken seriously and getting the help they need, without a patronizing softening of the language to make things seem more positive then they are. I say, call a spade a spade.
Your thoughts?
Without having read the responses, I'll over my .02. I have spina bifida, a disability that has nothing to do with autism. I grew up "disabled". That was the term that seemed to feel best (and least patronizing) for most such folks in my circle. Now, we are seeing that "person-first" language, and are seen (mostly by PC-minded able-bodies) as "Persons with Disbilities". This took a while to get used to. It seems needlessly cumbersome. But as I get older, I'm OK with it, as it can be shortened to "PWD", which is easy to say.
I will say that I hate the word "cripple" or "invalid" (which is spelled the same, but pronounced differently, than a certain synonym for "void" or "impertinent"). I hate to be made to feel that I'm impertinent just because of my disability.
The teacher was wrong to discount what you had to say. Especially since you are directly afffected by this language.
I will say, however, that I don't even understand why certain terms of address offend me, but they nevertheless do.
"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan
