Person-First Vs Identity-First Language
One of the biggest disparities in the autism community is the proper use of language. Often you hear people correct each other of what is acceptable or not acceptable when it comes to the language that is used regarding autism. There are two main ways to reference a person that has been diagnosed with autism. The first is called people-first language or person-first language. People-first language (PFL), also called person-first language (PFL), is a type of linguistic prescription which puts a person before a diagnosis, describing what a person "has" rather than asserting what a person "is". For example: “I have autism” or “She has autism” or “They are a person with autism”.
The second main way to reference a person diagnosed with autism is identity-first language. To call somebody "a disabled person" — an autistic person, for example — is to use "identity-first" language. It puts the disability first in the phrase. Among autistic people, identity-first language is popular, because they often feel it's such a strong part of who they are, not something that's happened to them. For example: “I’m autistic” or “She is autistic” or “They are an autistic person”.
Many people, mostly professionals in the field of treatments, or schools and sometimes parents and family state that people should use person-first language. The idea behind person-first language is that a person is a person first and that their diagnosis shouldn’t define them. Which on the surface seems like a great concept. If you talk to autistic people, the vast majority of us prefer identity-first language, which is why you have and will hear us use identity-first language. While person-first language is great for things like mental illnesses and physical ailments, autism is not either one of those things. If you think of a person as a computer, a mental illness or physical ailment is a problem. It is a bug or a virus that needs to be eradicated. It messes up the computer. But autism is not a bug or virus, it is a completely different operating system. This operating system might look and feel different, but there is nothing wrong with it and if you got rid of the operating system, the whole computer wouldn’t work.
Just like a computer, an autistic person would no longer be the same person if you removed the autism. For a person with cancer, anxiety or depression, these things could theoretically be removed from the person and you are left with the same person. For most autistic people, autism is not something they wish would go away, instead it is an identity that explains why they are the way they are. Why they interact with the world in the way that they do.
Now that we have explained a little bit about what person-first language and identity-first language is. What are your opinions on the differences? How would you like to be addressed? We would like to hear the perspectives of every person whether you are autistic or non-autistic. It is the opinions and thoughts which help lay out the foundation for understanding across the board in the efforts to find true unity amongst ourselves.