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!
Yes I understand that. I hope our input is helpful for your best practice document!
Thanks for asking for our contributions!
I think rather than be prescriptive about person or identity first language it could resolve the issue by instructing NT's to just actually ask the autistic person what they prefer. Like you might use identity first generally because it's what a majority of people like, but then be prepared to change it when talking about one person specifically who prefers the person first language.
I'm a workplace interior designer with autism, I'm really pushing for an inclusive design standard internally relating to neurodiversity in the offices we design. 20% of autistic people with autism in any form of paid employment is not good enough. We're valuable thinkers and do-ers and we deserve a comfortable space in the workplace!
I will 100% not even be mentioning disability, it's a work group that includes people with a range of neurodivergent conditions. The only thing I WILL mention at the end of the doc is that autism is technically labelled as a disability by the government and so it has a layer of protection legally.
I know this is preferred, i personally prefer 'person with autism' as I like person first language. But i understand the preference of others.
Completely agree!
Ausomely Autistic said:Neither do I but given that I am heavily
I completely understand that.
Ausomely Autistic said:I completely agree, we are expected to conform to neuro normative standards when we are literally neurodivergent.
Yep! And when we’re forced to it just does us more harm than good, and while I get those that are neurotypical don’t mean to, if they just listened to us when we tell them how to fix the problem that they do it, not make excuses for it.
I actually think that being autistic is enabling! For example I am a very passionate, dedicated and motivated autistic person and I wouldn’t possess such qualities if I wasn’t autistic.
I think that being neurotypical is boring, I couldn’t imagine living a life that is not as intense as my autistic life.
Just to clarify for language purposes- neurotypical means the opposite of neurodivergent whereas allistic is a term that is sometimes used to describe non autistic people.
enflores3000 said:I don’t agree that we Autistics are disabled by our environment.
Neither do I but given that I am heavily involved in our autistic community and want to represent my fellow neurokin in future roles, I think it is important for me to acknowledge that some members of our community feel differently.
enflores3000 said:We’re actually discriminated, as harsh as that is to say, by neurotypical standards because we’re not accommodated to.
I completely agree, we are expected to conform to neuro normative standards when we are literally neurodivergent.
I don’t agree that we Autistics are disabled by our environment. We’re actually discriminated, as harsh as that is to say, by neurotypical standards because we’re not accommodated to.
Good to know.
True. I was wondering if “person with Autism” was a bit of an odd way to put it but I do prefer “Autistic person” over “person with Autism” but I don’t think either is bad. Just the one is odd to me.
Glad you agree!
However some members of our community do use the social model and believe that some of us can be disabled by our environment.
Exactly!
Thanks for clarifying. Autistic person is preferred by the majority of our autistic community due to the fact that it describes our neurotype and we can not be separated from our own brains.
Absolutely! We have different needs due to being neurodivergent.
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.
Yeah. I think both are fine.
We are neurodivergent not disordered or disabled.