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On identity first language.

We say Autistic person. Not person with autism. The preference is not cosmetic. It is political, and it is specific, and the community has been clear about it for a long time.

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A hand writing in a small notebook at a wooden desk.

We say Autistic person. Not person with autism. The preference is not cosmetic. It is political, and it is specific, and the community has been clear about it for a long time.

Person with autism is person first language. It was developed for disability contexts in the 1980s with good intentions. The underlying idea was that the person came first, and the condition was secondary, and emphasising the personhood would help counter stigma. For some disability communities, this framing fits. For the Autistic community, it does not.

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