“for me, being autistic is brilliant, not a burden”

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I’ve stopped saying I ‘have autism
Nick Ransom is a journalist and founder of the Neurodiverse Media Community

As someone who views it as a curse about 60% of the time but understands it's who I am, personally the difference is hard to see but I understand why autistic is better than having autism.

From my perspective, to call an autistic person autistic is to identify a trait differentiating [us] from equals. I am a (graying) blond person. I am a blue-eyed person. I am an autistic person.

Person first language to me is what you would use to describe an affliction. Person with autism. Person with CP. Person who has cancer. You wouldn't call a person with cancer a "cancerous person".

Putting the condition before the person is de-humanising.

An autistic person, implying different to a regular person or human so to be possibly treated differently, maybe a lesser person.

Its a slippery slope to a genetic underclass

To me, being autistic is just one of the many things I have to manage as a human.

No different from the developed personalities I inherited, no different from programs of upbringing and habit, no different from any talents I acquire or do not acquire, no different from how much my hair frizzes a lot, no different how dark my skin can be instead of having sunburns, no different from the fact that I have to budget as twice my peers who earns at least trice, no different with how people would treat me based on my gender...

No different from figuring my weight, height and movement VS this world's physics and objects.

Some can be overcome, some can change, some are permanent.
The more permanent bits of me are not necessarily the real me, nor are necessarily autism.

Some overshadows, some are more subtle.
The more highlighted parts of me are not necessarily the best or the worst of me.
Autism doesn't overshadow me, not really.

To me, autism is just another 'rule' of mine as a human.
No different than learning my personal source code and trying to unlearn bad habits and reactions due to it.





I do not tell others how they should call themselves.
I do not tell others to stop harming themselves. I do not tell others to save themselves.

All I can provide is context for them.

And people who tells a lot of declaratives without owing it as an opinion, usually denies that they're being influenced and claims it is how things should be.

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I use the terms interchangeably depending on the situation and the person I am talking to about it. I hate that people are becoming militant and trying to force others to use one or the other. Is that an example of autistic rigid thinking? (rhetorical question) Thanks for this post and for your valuable comments.

Semantically, a “cancerous person” bears a worse connotation than “a person with cancer.”

I am under the impression that a “autistic person” and “a person with autism”carry the same connotation to most people.

yes , i do like the brilliant aspects of Autism . And oddly as much as it has had its problems , It has provided me many unexpected benefits , and has helped with survival. But other traits no so much...

I don't suffer from autism, I suffer from the arrogance and apathy of other people. Things that bother me don't bother other people, things that do bother me don't bother other people. I feel like functioning labels for autistic people depend on how much of a "burden" other people find that person to be.

"Autistic" and "with autism" are the same meaning to me.

I don't relate to this guy though. Although I'm high-functioning I've never been able to achieve ambitions by hyperfocusing and lack of interest in socialising.

I don't know what he means by "unlike neurotypical people I feel the most stress when not working", as I thought work was more stressful for Aspies. In my experience most neurotypicals seem able to put their emotions aside and carry on going to work every day without feeling panicky by pressure or the monotony of routine, while even though I enjoy my job I still mostly would rather be at home where I can do what I like when I like. I do like the social part of work though.

I seem to be one of those "neurotypical Aspies" where my ASD symptoms aren't typical of an ASD person and just make me quirky and nervous.

Being autistic is mostly a curse to me and its one of the worst things that has happened to me.It has ruined my life.Its been far from a blessing to me.Obviously, I have a very different experience as aspie than the journalist does with his autism.

Just a form of inspiration porn and ableism

Ableism because these articles are not balanced and more disabled autistic people are uninteresting

Where’s the articles from the 40% ID autistic people what about from the 30% who have epilepsy sometimes having seizures every day

They prefer such people hidden away out of sight.

Don’t want any of those spoiling the beautiful picture