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Autism researchers face off over negative terminology and attitudes

Steven

'According to some autism researchers, the field still too often defaults to terms with negative connotations. In a recent survey of 195 autism researchers, 60% of responses included views about autistic people the study authors deemed dehumanising, objectifying, or stigmatising. Some responses described autistic people as “shut down from the outside world” or “completely inexpressive and apparently without emotions,” according to the Frontiers in Psychology study. “What is worse than I thought," says psychologist Monique Botha, "was how blatant a lot of the content was; which shows that, for a large proportion of participants, they did not consider the things they were saying to be problematic at all."' 

More:

www.science.org/.../disorder-or-difference-autism-researchers-face-over-field-s-terminology

Parents

  • This is partly why we need more Autistic people in the field. Nothing about us without us. But then I’m not sure I would feel safe in that world if it was me. It just seems so unfair that these researchers should get to shape people’s perceptions of us - it’s so disempowering. Soon after my Autistic confirmation, my mum said she ‘always thought Autistic people couldn’t engage in anything.’ And it kind of burned me because in my experience the opposite is true.

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  • This is partly why we need more Autistic people in the field. Nothing about us without us. But then I’m not sure I would feel safe in that world if it was me. It just seems so unfair that these researchers should get to shape people’s perceptions of us - it’s so disempowering. Soon after my Autistic confirmation, my mum said she ‘always thought Autistic people couldn’t engage in anything.’ And it kind of burned me because in my experience the opposite is true.

Children