Separating The Self

On a lot of posts on this forum we talk about autism, and us. We differentiate between those two things.

However, clearly, if we are autistic then we are also autism. So I feel as if we need to not refer to those two things separately?

It's extreme, but I sort of want to change my name to autism so people refer to me in one go.

So instead of:

'Oh so you are austistic?' ...'yes, my name is ________, and I am autistic'.

It would go:

'Oh hi there Autism' glad to see you.' 'Yes, hi there, nice to see you too. It's nice to be seen for who I am, and not a person WITH a condition you must accommodate'.

Parents Reply Children
  • Thats sort of my issue. Why should I have to tell people?

    I'd rather say, if a situation required it, to say ' yeah sorry, I struggle with load noises... Or... I have some sensory issues...or I just don't excel at making small talk'

    Overall I think I have an issue with the societal need to categorise people so readily. They call it autism, I call it normal