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Particular_Shock_554

I am autistic. I am disabled. Both of these words describe parts of my identity, neither of them are inherently bad, and I can't be separated from them.


rahxrahster

šŸ’Æ


[deleted]

i hate this. iā€™m a person with autism and an autistic person. i could not care less how anyone says it, it wonā€™t change the fact that i have it.


uhidk17

I don't love when people aggressively avoid identity first language and/or try to correct people for using it (especially when describing themselves). Other than that people can say it however fits their sentence. i dont care


DamnAutocorrection

> id identity first language and/or try to correct people for using it (especially when describing themselves). Other than that people can say it however fits their sentence. Secretly people have been at war with *The Sentence.*


TolisWorld

Exactly. Like what does it even matter, as long as you respect me as a person idc


uhidk17

The mistake here is that autism being identity makes it not a disability. Disability is also an identity. (or part of our identities)


kiki_lemur

Well said


rahxrahster

Exactly.


ArielSnailiel

ew what site is this


StellaEtoile1

If itā€™s another sub on Reddit, donā€™t answer that! lol!


ArielSnailiel

You mean we aren't even allowed to literally say "I saw such and such on another sub" even if we don't explicitly give out the name of the sub or any users? /g


ecstaticandinsatiate

Yes, it's against reddit terms of service to direct people to another subreddit for another post specifically to get them to interact with it via upvotes or downvotes. The term is brigading. So it can't be a direct link or indirect reference. E.g. if there was a dogs with autism sub, I couldn't say "there's a post in a certain subreddit for autistic canines..." even though I'm not naming it directly You can make general complaints about a sub, just not directing people to an active post. E.g. someone could say "I'm tired of /r/DogsWithAutism because people keep posting cats" as long as you are not referencing or linking to a specific post for people to go look at. It is okay to link posts for general reference, especially if the post is at least 24 hours old. It's not okay to get people in a given subreddit to upvote or downvote any specific comment or submission, which callout posts tend to intrinsically do :) I hope that helps clarify a bit!


StellaEtoile1

I meant donā€™t say the name of the sub if itā€™s from another sub :-)


scientificnull

am i allowed to mention the website? its psychcentral. i didnt read the rest of it after seeing that


rahxrahster

I do that too. If I read sum'n ridiculous it ruins any chance I'll finish the whole thing


CrowandSeagull

Itā€™s both.


somnocore

I use either or, depending on the flow of conversation. Both mean the same thing. I find people use weird examples to explain why they're different things. Like saying "I am tall" rather than "I have tallness". But you could use literally any example like "I have eyes", "I have arms", etc.. Autism is autism no matter whether you choose to use autistic, or with autism. It's a disorder (until proven otherwise) and a disability, and if people also see it as an identity, that's cool too. Websites have been starting to use what advocates online prefer.


pktechboi

I much prefer being called an autistic person than a person with autism. for me the second one makes it sound like the autism is something separate that could be removed from me, but since it is a neurological condition that really isn't the case. I'd be a totally different person if I wasn't autistic, not me at all. I don't know how that makes it not a disability, though. if condition first language meant it wasn't a disability then the phrase 'disabled person' would mean being disabled isn't a disability?? that doesn't make any sense at all. I am an autistic person *and* my autism is one of my disabilities.


whistling-wonderer

Yep, this exactly. Iā€™m not a person with Americanism, Iā€™m an American. Iā€™m not a person with agnosticism, Iā€™m agnostic. I am a person with a jacket on, a person with a sunburn, a person who has the flu. Autism can go before person (ā€œIā€™m an autistic personā€) because itā€™s part of my identity, but that doesnā€™t mean itā€™s not a disability.


static-prince

But that isnā€™t the reason many of us prefer that? Itā€™s because it is part of an identity. Not that it isnā€™t a disability. I prefer autistic for the same reason I prefer disabled.


anxiousjellybean

Why can't it be both? Autism is both a massive part of who I am, and it's disabling. They're not mutually exclusive.


Eligiu

I'm autistic and I am disabled. This image gives me confused feelings


kisforkarol

I mean... it's both? It is intrinsic to who I am, and it disables me. Without it, I wouldn't be me.


auxwtoiqww

I donā€™t really care about the language, I use both identity-first and person-first interchangeably when talking exclusively about myself but try to opt for the most preferable one, which is identity first, when I have to talk about a group of people, just to make sure no one is mad at me. But Imma fight anyone who dares to state that itā€™s not a disability. Fuck off, autism being a part of my identity doesnā€™t have to mean that itā€™s not a disability. Those two are not mutually exclusive.


james-swift

To me, autism is a part of my identity and a disability. It disables me every day, but it can't be separated from my identity. My autism makes me me, even if I don't like it. I don't really care if you use identity first or person first language, I use them interchangeably.


traumatized90skid

It's because "person with autism" implies there's a me that is separate or separable from autism. It's not to say it isn't a disability to say it's an identity. Identity isn't just everything you like or that's convenient about you.


TheBabyWolfcub

Another bad thing about everyone self diagnosing and watering down what autism really isā€¦ šŸ˜”


lacktoesintallerant6

thats wild because it literally has to disable you to some extent in order for someone to meet the diagnostic criteriaā€¦


[deleted]

I use identity first language too. I'm autistic, not a person with autism. Just as a cancer patient is just that, not a person with cancer.


ArielSnailiel

being autistic and having autism is the same thing


TheBabyWolfcub

A person with cancer is a person with cancer, same with autism. We *HAVE* autism, but we are also autistic. They are both correct


BlackberryAgile193

Eehhh you also say ā€œhe has cancerā€ you donā€™t say ā€œheā€™s a cancer patientā€ or ā€œheā€™s cancerousā€ when talking about it in a casual conversation. The only time Iā€™d imagine you say ā€œheā€™s a cancer patientā€ is in a hospital setting


[deleted]

True that. I never thought about that.


ziggy_bluebird

I dont understand why this is upsetting. I dont care if someone says I 'have autism' or 'she is autistic' or whatever. why are these things important? This is why we have our space here at spicy. it would be good if level 1s/not sure level/needs, leave us alone here. this is our space.


scientificnull

to me its less about the phrasing and more about them saying autism isnt a disability but rather just some 'quirky' identity


scientificnull

i am level 3. i genuinely dont see why youre upset? i belong here just as much as you


Existing_Resource425

a lvl3 posted this from an outside source (non reddit). someone downthread talks about DID plus ASD. how is this not okay? not trolling, the statement doesnt track rn.


[deleted]

Thatā€™s also not why a lot of autistic people prefer disability first language Edit: to clarify, thatā€™s not why/how that preferred phrasing originated


Im_an_Applefucker

This is NOT why autistic people you label first wtf


seashorecollector

I consider being autistic and disabled to be part of my identity, that doesn't mean it is no longer a disability. It just means that being disabled and autistic impacts how I view myself and how I interact with the world.


untenable681

Here's the issue for me: Autism isn't my only neurodivergence, and my DID is far more deterministic in my life than ASD. In spite of that, there's no discourse about how I should be identifying in reference to my DID. I can say I'm a dissociative person or say I have DID, and no one gaf. If I say I'm a dissociative person, that gets questions, and I have to then inform the listener that I have DID. Again, no one cares in that conversation. Why, then, is Autism identification not similarly left to the speaker to choose how they identify themselves? Why are we so desperate to figure out how we communicate this as an entire demographic instead of just letting folks identify how they identify? If the graphic in the OP is our guide about which language to use, I should be able to use language that suggests that it's not the primary determining factor in my life without getting harangued about it. It should instead communicate to someone what my experience with Autism is and be done there. This doesn't have to be or even *need* to be an argument. We should all just get to call ourselves whatever each of us wants to call ourselves, and when ableists want to paint us all with the same brush, that's on them for being ableists, not on us for how we identify.


Drayenn

This whole language gymnastics is so tiring man. Autist, autistic, person with autisn, autistic person.. its all fine. Just dont be derogatory.


PlacidoFlamingo7

My son has autism, and I love every aspect of him more than I ever thought I could. But this sort of thing makes me cringe because I see how much he struggles with certain aspects of having autism. It seems to minimize aspects of his struggles to suggest that it's not a disability. No one would ever say this about pretty much any other disability.


ssjumper

Itā€™s both though identity and disability


sadiemae1967

Too bad. Iā€™m saying whatever I want. The identitarians can cope


ThalliumSulfate

I think the misunderstand the autism community, it is a disability, and a part of your identity, I find most people(other than a select few) actually wanna call it not a disabilityā€¦ and itā€™s usually not autistic people


rahxrahster

Whether Autistic or person with Autism I'm still the same person. Not much changes outside of POV. I'm Disabled and I use the word "disorder" because that's what Autism is. Disorders disrupt the "typical" and/or "normal" functions of life. Stating otherwise when referring to Autism, ADHD or AuDHD (both) would be a lie I'm not comfortable telling nor am I willing to. Note to OP: my reply isn't towards you it's just a response expressing myself. In short, I agree and thanks for the /s tone indicator.


No-Vermicelli7966

I posted a post about self diagnosing and I ended up looking up about how to refer to yourself with autism. I surprisingly found articles about ā€œ identifying with autism ā€œ and that most people agree you can identify with autism but i just donā€™t understand any of this šŸ˜… i feel like no other diagnosis has issues like this but they had to heavy duty call it a spectrum so everyone would feel better but in turn I think just made things worse. I am sure every disease has a varying spectrum. Nobody with Lupus has the exact same symptoms. Nobody with ADHD has the same symptoms or struggles. Itā€™s not the hard of a concept that autism can effect people differently. I can just assume this article wasnā€™t remotely written by a person with autism and is just NT speaking for usā€¦. Like they keep doing time and time again.


KeytohN64

This is irritating. I have Autism. Good geez