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

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
  • The concept of identity-first vs person-first language is something I'm familiar with but I hadn't joined the dots to connect that to how different people describe autism and I didn't know there was a tendency within the healthcare profession towards person-first language - so that's been good learnings for me.

    Thanks!

Reply
  • The concept of identity-first vs person-first language is something I'm familiar with but I hadn't joined the dots to connect that to how different people describe autism and I didn't know there was a tendency within the healthcare profession towards person-first language - so that's been good learnings for me.

    Thanks!

Children
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