I don’t like being referred to as a “person with autism”. I can’t just set it down, it’s not something I can remove. It is fundamental to the way I interact with the world, right down to how stim enters my brain. If my brain has types of inputs no allistic person can even approach, and methods of processing inherently different, it is an existence no allistic person can reach. There is no version of me that is not autistic.

A “cure” is the same as shooting me and replacing me with someone else.

The type of person I am is autistic. I am autistic.

I know it is a big trend in leftist spaces to use person first language, but in many situations that just sounds like eugenics to me. Personhood is not some distinct universal experience. There is no “ideal human mind” floating out there in the aether for them to recognize in me.

I get that person first language helps some people recognize that thoughts happen behind my eyes, but if the only way they can do that is by imagining I’m them, I don’t care.

  • quarrk [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    10·
    3 months ago

    I think “black person” is more or less equivalent to “autistic person/person with autism”.

    CW racist language

    What OP is asking would be closer to calling someone “a black”, which sounds offensive for obvious reasons - it reduces personhood and emphasizes their difference, one that historically was used to discriminate

    • ShinkanTrain@lemmy.mlEnglish
      8·
      3 months ago

      Only because in that case the word was used to persecute. Same how both “A latino(a)” and “a latino person” are fine, but “a hispanic” is really bad

      • the_post_of_tom_joad [any, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
        4·
        3 months ago

        specifically “a hispanic” is bad because it’s wrong linguistically? Was it used historically (or now) to be racist? I looked up historical use real quick and only found stuff about adding “Hispanic” as a choice in the 70s. What did i miss?

        • topher@lemm.eeEnglish
          3·
          3 months ago

          I too am interested to know this. I don’t want people to think I’m assuming all people from Latin America as being Mexican, so when I’m unsure where exactly they are from I have used ‘is Hispanic’ in the past.

          I’m aware of the S word slur that likely derives from this. Is this why Hispanic is bad? What word to describe the Latin American or Spanish cultures would be better advised?