r/AutisticPeeps • u/FlorietheNewfie Autistic, ADHD, and OCD • 3d ago
Autism in Media I hate modern online communities
"Please don't say that autistic people are people with autism. That word choice is so offensive."
I also am a person with brown hair and I'm a person with OCD. Can we PLEASE stop turning disorders into identity politics?
Also, the term "neurodivergent" feels like a professional way of calling me special. Cut the crap, I am NOT divergent. I am a genuinely disabled person who struggles to survive. Am I neurodisabled? Yes. Divergent? No, I only use that word to appease people irl.
"The criteria for an autism diagnosis is for little white boys."
While yes, I'm white, I'm also non-binary and was born female. I was legitimately diagnosed at 4 years old. I'm pretty sure the criteria have improved since then.
Yes, racial discrimination from doctors certainly exists, but the criteria itself is pretty much the same regardless of race.
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u/Agitated-Cup-2657 Level 1 Autistic 3d ago
I have no idea who decided that person-first language was offensive when it comes to autism, but it's completely stupid and I can't believe it caught on so much. Literally who cares? They mean exactly the same thing.
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u/Real-Expression-1222 2d ago
Tbh I don’t care that much but I think it’s stupid on both sides especially since most people constantly spreading that “it’s person with autism” aren’t autistic themselves
I’m autistic, diagnosed at 7. When I was a freshmen my neurotypical special ed teacher yelled at me for saying “autistic person” instead of “person with autism”
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u/baldythelanguagenerd Autistic 19h ago
Tbh I don’t care that much but I think it’s stupid on both sides especially since most people constantly spreading that “it’s person with autism” aren’t autistic themselves
I agree with this. When I first got diagnosed, it seemed like all I could find (especially online) was people insisting that I must use one the following phrases: "Person with autism" or "person who has autism" because saying or writing "I'm autistic" or "I am an autistic person" could be offensive to other people on the spectrum. If I responded with "but I am autistic and I'm not offended by it" I got only silence.
I wonder why I can't just use the phrases I prefer and let other people do the same?
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u/RutabagaPuree Asperger’s 3d ago
In a funny way, it makes me think of people avoiding to use the word "alcoholic" to describe alcohol consumption disorders. IIRC there is a scene in the Simpsons where a character plays on the "A...A..." (alcoholic anonymous) acronym and the other one doesn't understand what the character's trying to say. I think it was Marge and Apu talking, it's not clear in my memories.
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u/GL0riouz Mild Autism 3d ago
I don't understand why people have such hatred for the term "person with autism"
I always thought one would have autism the way one would have a tail or whatever
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u/BeautifulBlueMoon42 1d ago
Generally, it’s because of literal definition. The idea of carrying autism around “with” me cracks me up. It’s not so much my ID as it is the idea that if I’m a person “with autism” it sounds (to me) like I can control or change it. It’s easy to change hair or eyes or physical characteristics (depending on what it is). I don’t put stock in what others use for themselves but I do ask people to respect my personal choice if they’re talking about me. Not that it’s something that has come up often. If I disclose and they say something that I don’t agree with I just say, “My personal preference is autistic person.” And it then determines access from there. It’s down to basic respect imo. But it’s not a detail that overly runs my life.
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u/FlorietheNewfie Autistic, ADHD, and OCD 1d ago
Tbf, I am a person WITH OCD
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u/BeautifulBlueMoon42 23h ago edited 23h ago
Ok- I don’t understand why you’re commenting that again. I read the post. I explained it with my POV. There’s literally no argument to pick up here. Either way works for each person. Pick one that suits you and then let it go?
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u/FlorietheNewfie Autistic, ADHD, and OCD 14h ago
I suppose, yes. I'm just annoyed at the identity politics of a literal mental disability
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u/BeautifulBlueMoon42 12h ago
That’s fair. I get that. However in balance, not everyone is politically motivated. To me for example, it’s just grammar. There’s nothing else behind it. I’m not offended or upset about it either way. I love language. It’s one of my interests. I love studying it and I love teaching it.
If you’re looking for a strategy: Maybe take some time to understand what about it bothers you and how you can soothe that feeling for yourself? It’s hard when something that bothers you (generalized usage) depends so much on the behaviors of others.
I’ve a few of those topics myself and oh boy they can get me riled up for sure! I’ve had to figure out what to do about the topics when they upset me. How to handle it. How to express the frustration in not being able to do anything about it. Usually I try to listen to the perspectives of others and see if there’s anything about their perspective or experiences that can help me understand their POV better. Sometimes it changes my opinion and other times I feel more informed and nothing changes except I collected data. But that works for me specifically and not everyone.
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u/citrusandrosemary Autistic and ADHD 3d ago edited 3d ago
I never will understand people who get so hung up on the phrasing of saying whether or not they have autism or they're autistic or they are someone with autism.
Does it even fucking matter? I'm still somebody who is developmentally disabled! How you phrase it changes nothing!
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u/FlorietheNewfie Autistic, ADHD, and OCD 3d ago
Autism is not an intellectual disability.
Autistic people can have an intellectual disability, but autism in itself is not intellectual
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u/citrusandrosemary Autistic and ADHD 3d ago
Sorry I changed it. I use speech to text. Sometimes I swallow my words and speak too fast when talking and sometimes what gets translated isn't always correct. I use the Google keyboard and I think it tends to put in the word that they think makes the most sense contextually or just end up looking like gibberish.
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u/RutabagaPuree Asperger’s 3d ago
The Scarlet Letter except A doesn't stand for "adultery" but for "autistic".
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u/Late_Inevitable_9956 ASD 3d ago edited 3d ago
does anyone know the difference of ‘with autism’ ‘has autism’ ‘person with autism’ etc stuff really means? i have no idea how it’s supposed to have different meanings and i think that just makes it even more dumber it’s argued over when we don’t get the meaning ourselves or see the difference
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u/SemperSimple 2d ago
you'd have to ask the English Literature nerds. I've seen them explain the difference in comments before and it literally boils down to "born with verses separate condition from the self"
which I find it all pretty stupid. It's the actual dumbshit normies will argue over: something which has no consequence or gain yet they feel should have distinction when it has no difference.
A distinction without a difference is a type of logical fallacy where an author or speaker attempts to describe a distinction between two things where no discernible difference exists. It is particularly used when a word or phrase has connotations associated with it that one party to an argument prefers to avoid.
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u/Late_Inevitable_9956 ASD 2d ago edited 2d ago
the definition things, what the has to do with being autistic the problem behaviours meltdowns sensory disabiling things that ruin life, is it supposed to be nothing to do with autism but to do with english literature or socialology or something, i don’t get this stuff, i think it’s stupid as well
it’s like same logic as fire burning a house and describing how and why it is what fire really means and definies does f all to the damage it causes has no meaning to actual problem
i don’t get it if i describe my joggers as being this or that they’re same thing still they make no sense to me describing what way what the point is
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u/SemperSimple 2d ago
Yes, 100% agree. I've gotten to the point that if something like this (nonsense) is pointless... then I assume it's a "normal, typical" person's problem or interest.
Because it seems like.. they love to argue and discus pointless things? Or they rather TALK ABOUT IT than FIX IT. Just POUR WATER ON THE BURNING HOUSE and unless you're going to tell me the fire is SO HOT that water will NOT put it out and we need suppressor foam... PLEASE stop talking about how hot the heat is!
LOL jfc
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u/Late_Inevitable_9956 ASD 2d ago
i zone out with these things illrelevent things people talk about it’s like alien language goes over my head and zone out words and language things if that makes sense
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u/lil_squib 3d ago
I have two month old dirty dishes on my stove and I’ve barely had one proper meal today, better start obsessing about whether or not we should capitalize the ‘a’ in autism.
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u/Murky-South9706 ASD 3d ago
I'm an autistic person with autistic autism, personally. I'm also not neurodivergent, I'm just disabled 🤷♀️ and there's nothing inherently wrong with me for being that, I'm perfectly fine with who I am and am not ashamed of having a disability. Or disorder is pathologised because it's a disorder, not because doctors have some secret agenda
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u/Fearless_pineaplle Moderate to Severe Autism 3d ago
whats race or identity vktta gotsa gota gotta do with a disabilry disibilty disability?
i dont get these allistics
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u/Curious_Dog2528 Autism and Depression 3d ago
I’m Native American and not white and I was diagnosed with pddnos at 3 1/2 and had to wait 28 years because of the limitations of the dsm 4 to be diagnosed with autism level 1 in late 2024
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u/Neptunelava ADHD 1d ago
I think because at one point ppl (ppl who don't have autism) use to get offended by the term "autistic person" and always policed people on it. Then autistic people started opening up about perfering the term. Instead of making it about preference they turned it into politics. I'm not sure when this happened. But I had been somewhat close to the autism community in 2018 since my friend was autistic and in thise communities. A yr later I met my husband who is also autistic. So I started learning a lot online and from communities. There were a lot of preference it seemed like that majority would prefer then but it didn't feel political. Nothing was crazy romanticized and the occasionally silly meme/joke here and there. And then one day, during the pandemic my fyp on tiktok was just FULL of autism education that slowly turned into glorification and then everyone suddenly being autistic. Where did this PC autism Discorse come from, it's so sad to see.
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u/SnooAdvice71 3d ago
all this arguing back and forth about puzzle pieces, autism vs autistic, diagnosed privilege vs self diagnosed validity etc, meanwhile I'm over here trying to get myself in the shower for the past 4 hours because the sound of the water, the wetness on my skin, the smell and slipperiness of the soap, the scratchy towel to dry myself with and the noise of the extractor, is making me cry.