Published on 12, July, 2020
I often refer to myself as an "Autist" and would not be at all concerned if anyone else called me it either (assuming it was done without malice).
For some reason the word really appeals to me - it just fits!
A therapist suggested that saying "an autistic person" would be more inclusive.
Are there offensive connotations to the word "Autist"?
It is my preferred self-referent, or 'Autiste', but that's just me playing with words and imagery. I think that particularism in exact phraseology, and offence when anyone does not use the currently preferred word has become both silly and self-defeating. If someone called me a 'person with autism' it would not offend me in the least.
Personally I do like Autiste, it's tongue in cheek pretentious, like that Bucket woman calling herself Bouquet. I couldn't give a fig what word people use, as long as it's not said in hate. But I realise that some people do, and that words direct thought. To be a comfortable society to live in we do need to think about the words we use. I do think the inflection that the word is said in is more important than the collection of tongue and mouth movements used to pronounce the word.