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"I am Autistic" / "They are Autistic" vs "I have Autism" / "They have Autism"

NAS90609

I recently felt the need to correct someone for describing one of their colleague's children as 'having autism' - as opposed to 'being autistic' - but since then I've noticed a lot more examples of people describing others and themselves as 'having autism' so I'm starting to wonder if it's just a matter of personal preference or whether it's a regional difference or an Americanism that's spread - or whether it's another example of a lack of awareness of what autism is?

Thoughts?

Parents

  • It probably comes down to preference. I tend to use identity-first language (autistic) rather than person-first (having autism/person with autism) although I have noticed that I sometimes use person-first out of habit. I have worked with autistic people for many years now and person-first used to be the go to language, hence why I sometimes use it. But I am trying to use identity-first as much as possible as previous surveys have shown that a slight majority of autistic people prefer it.

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  • It probably comes down to preference. I tend to use identity-first language (autistic) rather than person-first (having autism/person with autism) although I have noticed that I sometimes use person-first out of habit. I have worked with autistic people for many years now and person-first used to be the go to language, hence why I sometimes use it. But I am trying to use identity-first as much as possible as previous surveys have shown that a slight majority of autistic people prefer it.

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