People first language..

Having worked with children with Autism for 7 years, We always used people first language... In my school the word "Autistic" was forbidden, as it was seen as very disrespectful. It puts the disability before the person, and it should always go the other way around.. "A child with Autism" rather than "a autistic child" It basically says first and foremost that person is just that a person, when you word it right...


It bothers me now MUCH more so than it ever has in the past... So I just through I would share some literature, (Also this is not just about Autism, but all disabilities, I simply have more experience and knowledge about Autism...


People first language is a form of politically correct linguistic prescriptivism aiming to avoid perceived and subconscious dehumanization when discussing people suffering from disabilities. The basic idea is to replace, e.g., "disabled people" with "people with disabilities", "deaf people" with "people who are deaf" or "individuals who are deaf", etc., thus emphasizing that they are people first (hence the concept's name) and anything else second. Further, the concept favors the use of "having" rather than "being", e.g. "she has a learning disability" instead of "she is learning-disabled", an example of E-Prime language avoiding the verb to be.
The rationale behind people-first language is that it recognizes that someone is a person, a human being, or a citizen first, and that the disability is a part, but not all of them. Thus, it asks for one to respect the disabled community as first and foremost a community of people. It is also supposed to confirm the right of the concerned group to define themselves and choose their own name. Since the late 1980s, people-first language has gained considerable acceptance with disabled people as well as professionals working with them or people otherwise interested in the topic. Adherence to the rules of people-first language has become a requirement in some academic journals. By extension, "people first" is a common part of the names of organizations representing people with disabilities in the United States and internationally.
People First Language
People First Language recognizes that individuals with disabilities are - first and foremost - people. It emphasizes each person's value, individuality, dignity and capabilities. The following examples provide guidance on what terms to use and which ones are inappropriate when talking or writing about people with disabilities.
People First Language to Use Instead of Labels that Stereotype and Devalue

• people/individuals with disabilities
  an adult who has a disability
  a child with a disability
  a person

• the handicapped
  the disabled
  

• people/individuals without disabilities
  typical kids

• normal people/healthy individuals
  atypical kids

• people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
  he/she has a cognitive impairment
  a person who has Down syndrome

• the mentally retarded; retarded people
  he/she is retarded; the retarded
  he/she's a Downs kid; a Mongoloid; a Mongol

• a person who has autism

• autistic

• people with a mental illness
  a person who has an emotional disability
  with a psychiatric illness/disability

• the mentally ill; the emotionally disturbed
  is insane; crazy; demented; psycho
  a maniac; lunatic

• a person who has a learning disability

• he/she is learning disabled

• a person who is deaf
  he/she has a hearing impairment/loss
  a man/woman who is hard of hearing

• the deaf
  

• person who is deaf and cannot speak
  who has a speech disorder
  uses a communication device
  uses synthetic speech

• is deaf and dumb
  mute

• a person who is blind
  a person who has a visual impairment
  man/woman who has low vision

• the blind
  

• a person who has epilepsy
  people with a seizure disorder

• an epileptic
  a victim of epilepsy

• a person who uses a wheelchair
  people who have a mobility impairment
  a person who walks with crutches

• a person who is wheelchair bound
  a person who is confined to a wheelchair
  a cripple

• a person who has quadriplegia
  people with paraplegia

• a quadriplegic
  the paraplegic

• he/she is of small or short stature

• a dwarf or midget

• he/she has a congenital disability

• he/she has a birth defect

• accessible buses, bathrooms, etc.
  reserved parking for people with disabilities

• handicapped buses, bathrooms, hotel rooms, etc.
  handicapped parking

I pretty much agree with the idea and it would be nice if things just WERE that way and everyone spoke in that perspective, but I think most people who say it the other way around don't mean to offend or mean anything by it.

I don't think I'd be able to correct someone or inform them of this in a real life situation, I'd feel like I'm offending them by correcting something they didn't mean to imply.
Or maybe I'm speaking gibberish and need to get some sleep.

Quoting Sydney and a Half:“ I pretty much agree with the idea and it would be nice if things just WERE that way and everyone spoke ... [snip!] ... offending them by correcting something they didn't mean to imply. Or maybe I'm speaking gibberish and need to get some sleep.”

yeah it depends on who it is.. .I have already froze a few times with family members, but it offends me enough that I would rather offend someone once by correcting them, than hearing them say it the other way around God knows how many times in our lifetime ya know?

If it's a stranger in passing I wouldn't correct them, expecially since it probably wont have any affect on them..

But not everyone has heard of this, so I think the people on here who have children with disabilities, should know about it.. So they aren't speaking derogatory about there own child and get nasty looks when they go to school and are talking to teachers/other parents, etc etc etc...

Quoting jamils_mommy:“ yeah it depends on who it is.. .I have already froze a few times with family members, but it offends ... [snip!] ... about there own child and get nasty looks when they go to school and are talking to teachers/other parents, etc etc etc...”

I think that a lot of people don't realize that saying "autistic child" is offensive, because they haven't been in that boat. I know I personally worked with a boy who had autism during school and never thought of it that way and would NEVER have wanted to say anything derogatory toward him. He helped me as much as I helped him. Thanks for posting this Christina!!

I love this.
I have almost always said things in that phrasing. My brother has autism...and I have always referred to him as a person with autism, not an autistic person.