Is "autist" a slur?

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I've seen several threads on WP about whether "Aspie" is offensive or not, but is "autist?"

I don't think so.

It depends on the context.

If somebody says, "You damn autist!"---"autist" becomes an insult.

If somebody says, on the other hand, "Autists tend to be able to focus on things minutely," then it's not an insult.

another term that outside of the autistic community nobody knows or uses

As others have said, most likely it's not a slur when used by people in a way that's not intended to be insulting. Intent is the key when it comes to a reasonable person taking offense or not.

It's sad that we live in a time when members of any subculture seem to actively seek out ways to be offended. I've had the misfortune of meeting many of them on Twitter and various online forums. Unless someone is trying to be offensive, I don't care if they capitalize Autism or not, say I'm autistic or say I have autism. I'm pretty free with how I use the term, and I have better things to do than sit around and decide if someone is being "ableist" or whatnot.

Of course, that's just my opinion. I'm sure someone out there is thinking about firing off a lengthy jeremiad on the subject even as I type this...

Personally, I dislike it. It's not commonly used within the autistic community and, from what I have seen, is most prevalent in places that joke about it (I see people joking about others being "autists" on YouTube annoyingly often). Then again, if it isn't used in an offensive way, it doesn't bother me too much.

autist
noun au·tist \ˈȯ-ˌtist\

: a person affected with autism : autistic

Origin and Etymology of autist
aut(ism) + 1-ist
First Known Use: 1968

( https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autist )

I've never heard of autist before. I just usually call us autistics and other people NT. But I don't say NT in front of family members or classmates because I assume they'll be confused what I'm talking about.

Not a slur. Just stupid and meaningless.

A person with autism is an "autistic", not an "autist".

If you use the word "autist" to mean "a person born with autism" you just make yourself sound like an illiterate dumb ass, but you dont offend anyone.

The word "artist" combines "art" with "ist" to mean "someone who voluntarily practices art as a craft or profession".

We combine "science" with "ist" to make the word "scientist" to mean "someone who voluntarily does science as a profession".



So logically an "autist" would be "a person who voluntarily practices autism as a craft, or profession (and gets paid well to do their autism)".

I have never meet, nor heard of a person like that. Never meet an "autist", but have met autistics (folks who didnt voluntarily take up autism as a profession, but were born with it).





Actually I take that back that it is not a slur.

"Autist" could be taken as a slur. The reason is because of the above reason (that it sounds like you're talking about someone who does autism voluntarily as a profession). The term "autist" could be taken to mean "a neurotypical who fakes autism to get sympathy, or to get government assistence, and does so with skill as a craft, or a profession" . So yeah, in that sense "autist" would be a serious insult.

So yeah, "autist" is either meaningless, or its a slur.

Only thing my mind is coming up with about autist, which I don't remember seeing or hearing, is that a word for flute player is flautist.

Like most things, some people can make it a slur by saying it with intent to hurt - it depends on the person who uses it.

I really don't like the word. It is rather meaningless, as a lot of people here have said.

Autist is a lovely word.

I enjoy it's sound and the way my tongue moves as I say it.

Will there be any terms left for Autists if you get all the words banned you don't personally like?

It sounds elitist to me but if you want to call yourself Autist it is none of my business.

"Spergie autiste" and "weaponised autism".

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/weaponized-autism

ie. overcomitted.

The AS person, in question, is assumed to be preoccupied, so can be easily manipulated by the NT. He is like the proverbial, absent-minded professor.

Someone using these slurs will take credit for your ideas and make full use of those, under the assumption that life is ultimately decided by popularity and brute force. Under the slavery of different eras, some were well-rounded scribes, scientists, and cartographers. These slurs imply that thinking is a kind of work, and that you are not entitled to fruit of your own labor, by way of your submissive, social status.