Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi All,
I'm trying to set up an internal 'best practice' document around inclusive language at work. Does anyone have any tips/preferences on language? I know it's a hot topic currently in the community eg. Autistic person / person with autism etc.
Any insights would be appreciated!
We are neurodivergent not disordered or disabled.
Agreed. Disabled or disorder has been used for too long now due to the whole it makes people think that we need to be fixed when we don’t. We just need to be accepted, included and accommodated to just like a blind person or a person in a wheelchair.
Absolutely! We have different needs due to being neurodivergent.
I disagree, I don't think a lot of "straight" people do know what LGBTQI means, maybe it's an age thing, but there are lots of people my age who make outrageous assumptions about what it is. Similarly I think they make assumptions about ND people, I've had people say things to me like, 'but you are normal, arn't you?', that made me feel like I'd escaped from a zoo or something. I think part of the problem for older people accepting differences is that years ago, parents were encouraged to place "disabled" babies and children in "homes" and forget about them, we were encouraged to pity people with any disability, people were bad if they misbehaved, especially children and we were encouraged to shun them. Lesbians were women who couldn't "get a man", and gay men were criminals and transvestites were comedians like Larry Grayson. A school friend was misidentified as a boy when born, it was only discovered that she was female a few days later, at that time if doctors were unsure of the sax of a baby they told the parents to basically pick a sex and raise them as that.
There ar still a lot of people who think that ND people are making a fuss and should behave ourselves and learn to be "normal", which is why I make the comparisson.
Made me chuckle, also reminds me that it's autism awareness week next week apparently, my work are making a thing about it.
I find it funny that most of us have tried to hide/mask most of our lives , we get an awareness week, almost as funny as when they set up social events to allow us to get together and talk. like getting arachnophobic people tickets to a spider petting session.
All I'm trying to say is that I don't think autistic people receive that kind of prejudice.
Good point.
I'm not sure that's true. You just have to listen to any homophobic or transphobic person or group and the ignorance about what these people are is in full view. If "I think about two guys kissing and it makes me go ew" was enough for these people to decide they don't like it, they wouldn't spend so much time talking about how gay people can't be trusted around children or trans people are indoctrinating schools.
Whatever knowledge people have of any group they're prejudiced (or not) about is skin deep, if that. It's easy to see autistic people as this deep ocean because it's where we live, while seeing other groups as some monoculture that's easily understood by outsiders.
Exactly