When talking about autism and people, the medical community insists on talking about us using person-first language while myself and the autistic community insist you talk about us using identity-first language. So let’s start with the basics: what does this mean and why is this important?
The Difference Between Identity First and Person First Language
Identity First Language (IFL) is when you describe someone by using the description as an adjective or noun e.g. “I am an autistic person” or “I am autistic”. This implies autism is an identity and without it, we wouldn’t be the same person that we are.
Person First Language (PFL) is when you describe someone by saying they have something e.g. “I am a person with autism.” In this context, autism is treated as something separate from the individual, something that we have, which insinuates that it’s also something that can be taken away or “cured”.
When using identity-first language, we are talking about a huge part of our life that defines a part of who we are, an aspect that is so incredibly personal and important to us. Other traits we commonly use identity-first language to describe ourselves include:
- culture: “I am an American citizen” (IFL) vs “I have citizenship of America (PFL)
- parental status: “I’m a parent” (IFL) vs “I have a kid” (PFL)
- shoe size: “I wear a size 9 shoe” (IFL) vs “I wear a shoe that is a size 9” (PFL)
- hair color: “I’m blonde” (IFL) vs “I have blonde hair” (PFL)
- skin color: “I’m white” (IFL) vs “I have white skin” (PFL)
- sexual orientation: “I’m a lesbian” (IFL) vs “I have lesbianism” (PFL, also not real)
While they are grammatically correct and appear to have the same meaning, there is a nuance to each of these things that we must consider.
A Brief History on Person First Language
The use of person-first language became popular during the HIV/AIDS epidemic because it was used to reduce the sigma by separating the person from their condition. The phrase, “See the person – not the disability!” was used to promote this linguistic shift and respect
This made sense because HIV is a transmittable virus that causes AIDS and there was a lot of misinformation and fear on the topic. Using PFL was a way to mitigate and reduce social stigma and discrimination against infected people.
This technique was adopted for many disabilities for the same reason. It separates the individual from their disease or disability. For example, it makes sense to say, “… the veteran with missing legs,” or “…the child with a cold.” In both scenarios, the condition of the person was inflicted upon them and they can exist (or previously existed) separately from their condition.
Autism is a neurotype, meaning a type of brain in terms of how a person interprets and responds to social cues, their environment, etc. Unlike the examples above, an autistic person cannot exist separately from their autism. I’ll cover more on why PFL is harmful in the next post.
Why Identity First Language is Preferred
This is subjective. Not all autistic people personally feel offended by person-first, but many polls and massive surveys answered by autistics revealed that the majority believes it is harmful, so it’s wise to adopt identity-first language when talking about autistic people as a group or when you don’t know an individual’s preference.
As mentioned in the brief history above, person-first language separates the person from their condition, and autism is not something that can be separated from us. Using person-first language implies that autism can be separated from the person, that there is a cure for autism, or that autism is something that needs to be cured.
Autism is a neurotype. It cannot be cured. Being autistic is a valid way of existing. There is nothing wrong with being autistic. Folks that continue to use person-first language after knowing better may justify its use by claiming identity-first language is dehumanizing. This is false; using autism as an adjective to describe yourself does not mean it is your only adjective. The stance on preferring identity-first language believes that person-first language is dehumanizing because if we have to remind them that we are people, it’s a sign that they don’t think of us as people, that they think of us as subhuman.
It’s Not Black & White
I know it’s a struggle from a rigid, autistic perspective. One might think, “Thanks for teaching me this. From now on, I’ll use identity-first language for everything that is an identity!” However, life is rarely black and white.
Using identity-first language is a preference of the autistic community, but this rule of thumb is not necessarily true for all communities. I’ve been told that people with Bipolar Disorder prefer person-first language by someone who has it, and I’m inclined to listen.
Additionally, we use person-first language when talking about people of color because the identity-first language version has been historically used in a derogatory manner.
