Is saying "someone is autistic" offensive?

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I tried to link it in the discussion, but my post never posted. I instead posted search terms to lead to it.

Yay that someone sent them to Jim Sinclair. His response to this question is one of the best I've seen. (And is pretty much the same I'd decided upon when I analyzed why autistic was better than "person with autism", just written better)

Thank you! That was very insightful...

I like this, I never thought of it that way before, but you're right, people don't "have blackness" or "have female-ness" or "have gayness", why should autistics "have autism"? The fact that people make such a fuss about "political correctness" is probably more irritating than their using politically incorrect expressions, because it means they still see us as lesser people and are trying to find a way to soften the blow. I do not "have autism"; it will not go away and I cannot cure it. I am autistic, I am an aspie, and I'm proud of that.

I think it's silly that people take offense- Yes, I'm autistic, but that doesn't mean much, it just means I have autism, that is part of who I am... To me, it would be like getting offended by something like stating you're Caucasian (or whatever ethnicity you happen to be) and deciding they should now be referred to as "Someone who has Caucasian skin (which by the way doesn't actually automatically make you "white" if you want to get really technical.) It's part of who you are, if you're autistic I think it means you accept, embrace, and aren't ashamed of who you are and the fact that you have autism, where when you feel compelled to say "Person with asd," You're ashamed of that part of yourself/ the person on the spectrum.

Sometimes I definitely DO suffer from autism, but a lot of people suffer from being NT sometimes, too. It's all how you look at it and how comfortable you are with you or your loved one with ASD in my opinion.

I agree that the person-first language is a PC term invented by those who really don't know what they're talking about. "Austic child/person/whatever" is just fine, unless it's used in a context where autism is irrelevant, because that does suggest that the speaker sees it as the person's one defining characteristic. Eg. introducing people as "this is my autistic friend Adam and this is my gay friend Bob, etc." would not be appropriate.

Yes, that bothers me a bit, too. I just want to respond with: "NO, what he suffers from is ignorant people like you!" It's a classic example of political correctness actually making something more offensive.

Last edited by FMX on 10 May 2013, 3:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"Autistic" in itself isn't offensive, but people using the word may likely imply offence when they do use it.

I don't like being labeled as such but I won't take offense to it. I just assume they mean AS or PDD-NOS or the spectrum and they are using it as a catagory. I also feel the word is misleading for me because of the stigma and assumptions people can make about me.

I've personally never been offended by the term "Autistic." I'm more offended when ASD folks are upset by being lumped in with the rest of the spectrum, as if we're upper class autistic.

I don't know, I guess I'm just not easily offended by words that aren't said with malicious intent.

As for "Suffering" from Autism, I think it's fitting. It's true that we simply have a different personality type, but it's also true that we have to work incredibly hard to mold to society. It's difficult. I'd say I suffer from it, regardless of how little I want to change it.

So I'm neurotypical but I've gathered that it's offensive to some people with autism but not to others. In any case, the safest bet as an NT is to go with the person first thing, and has/have autism rather than autistic. "Autistic" is kind of an in-group thing, people who are on the spectrum can choose to call themselves autistic or not, but NTs can't.

Like a couple of previous posters stated, "autistic," in and of itself, isn't offensive.....but it can be used as an insult.

I dont like the term 'suffers from autism' either. I dont mind is autistic or has autism though, both are fine.

Calling someone autistic on the internet is replacing calling someone retorted. It's pretty common insult on sites like 4chan.

If it is used as an insult it's absolutely offensive but if the person is just stating a fact I wouldn't worry about it. Like for example going "That person is creepy and autistic." is a nono but saying explaining to someone that "That person is autistic. Their mind works differently." is perfectly fine.

Oh gosh, I hate this semantics debate. As far as I am concerned, either way is fine because it is a part of who I am and also not all of who I am. It seems much like people arguing that I'm not a brunette, I'm a person with brown hair.

I can usually tell by there tone of voice which way they lean.I'am not happy with labels for example blacks were called that then afro americans to me they are just Americans.