How do y'all feel about use of the word "aut*st"?

I think some NTs use it as derogatory when they are jealous of our ability to focus on a topic.

The reason I was concerned with using it is because this site says to avoid that word in one of the guides.

I thought about it like you did. I did not realise it could be derogatory, I thought it was a new variant of "Autistic" which is how I refer to myself and others.

Of course I had to go into research mode so I did some Googling. I did see that "aut" is slang and a negative, insulting slur. Not that I ever used that word, but now I know it's wrong if I ever hear it or see it in print.

I did not know that.

I am VERY pleased to know it now.

The Greek translation of the word is how I have described my "job" for two decades ie. I don't have a job - its just me being me.....I don't think of it as work / a job - it is merely my innate activities that I am lucky enough to receive money for.

Thank you VERY much Peter - you have made me very happy.

battybats said:

like when LGBTQ+ people call ourselves queer-

I have a problem with that as when I was growing up, it was very derogatory (as you will know) and my mum used it a lot.

Every time I read it I see the expression on her face when she said it as she was vehemently anti-gay etc.

So, for me, it's out but as a general thing, reclaiming terms is good.

With regard to Autist though, surely it's not reclamation is it, as I don't believe it was ever used derogatorily?

Or am I wrong 

This thread concerned me a bit as its a word I’d started to use. Certainly here, relatively often - having seen it in many posts and thinking that it was perfectly correct. Now I feel really unsure. Is it a slur? Was it a slur in the past? Isn’t it just a quick way to say ‘autistic person’? I’ll certainly step away from using it for now if there’s any such aspect to it, and I apologise if it caused offence at any point, I just assumed that as it was son commonly used on here it was a sanctioned term. I feel embarrassed now! Like I thought I knew it all when I’m still very much learning 

Thank you for sharing this. I have never read this point of view. I only read about the person first thing as a way that some people prefer. 

I'm fine with it. It's reclamation, like when LGBTQ+ people call ourselves queer- not everyone has to use it if they don't want to, but it's people asserting their autonomy and showing that who they are isn't bad.

I've only ever heard the word autist used in a positive way as a shorthand for autistic people.  Has it been used as the same kind of slur as the N word?

I actually find person first language highly offensive, because as I understand it, it's based on the premise of emphasing that people are people first and more than their disability.  I find the idea that someone needs to change how they speak to remind themself that I am a human being rather unpleasant.  That they see autism as something so disturbing and frightening that they have to say person first so that I won't be marginalised.  In contrast, nobody feels the need to say "person with tallness" or "person with Britishness."  If I say someone is a tall person, it doesn't immediately conjure up an image of a skyscraper or a giant.  We understand that tallness is just one of many characteristics.  By putting the disability second, it actually presents more as a pathology.

Different people have different opinions about that. It's important to pay attention to how the person uses it and copy their way. Like for example some people emphasise on saying person first, like to say a person on the spectrum and not an autistic person. Just pay attention to how each one likes to call it and say it the same way.

that's really cool!

I like the connotation of the word if you take it literally from the Greek it more or less translates as at someone whose profession occupation and expertise is being themselves