Neurodivergence

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All things neurodivergent and relating to the broader neurodivergent community (and communities).

See also this community's sister subs Feminism, LGBTQ+, Disability, and POC

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

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I am autistic, an autist, not a “person with autism” (beehaw.org)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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 anarchist 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.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Huh, I thought this was a non-issue nowadays and people knew to use "they are autistic" etc, guess I was incorrect.

For the record, I'm also autistic, have autism and unlike others here think it hasn't limited my thinking or stopped me from changing and working within the bounds I have like everybody, regardless of neurotype, has.

I actually think the opposite of most commenters here, by not allowing us to be ourselves and recognise how we work, that's the thing that sets us back, overwhelms us etc more.

If we are wanting to improve ourselves we must first recognise what and who we are and then work within that so we can do that, but it should never be done for other people or because society demands it, that way leads to bad ends.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I don't like "autistic person" I would rather just have "autistic".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Fair enough, I just wasn't sure how to work with that grammatically, thanks for helping me!