AIBU to ask you to STOP

[Dawndonnaagain]

using the term 'autistics'. Four fucking times this weekend on different threads. You mean person with autism, people with autism, child with autism. Autistics is not shorthand for any of those. Pack it in.

I know people with autism who call themselves an Autie, and people (including myself :o) with Asperger's who call themselves Aspies. If people call themselves it it's fine IMO

Great, i would imagine they were writing "is autistic" and changed the "autistic" bit for "asd/c", probably trying to say the right thing and make sure they didnt upset anyone...

Lots of people in my autism community do say 'I am autism' or 'my child is ASD'. This was a deliberate choice in response to a really nasty 'awareness' film put out by the hated Autism Speaks.

You need to get over yourself OP
?

As I mentioned in my earlier post....

The National Autistic Society uses the phrase If you're an autistic adult.... on the front page of their website.

Is this wrong/offensive

^^ that was a big harsh but I do think you need to specifically point out where the four different threads you mentioned have offended you.

Autistics, Autistic People,

People with Autism is ablist quite frankly.

I am an identity-first Autistic!

There are far too many people with autism who call themselves autistic for you to try and set this blanket rule, op. My brother prefers the autistic description (well, when he wants to acknowledge it at all). Yabu.

But its not that one person doesnt have the right to call themselves autistic, that isnt dawns point (is it?).

Its that the plural of one autistic person isnt "autistics", same as the plural of one deaf person isnt "deafs"

Beyond has it.

Maybe fanjo but dawn has yet to point out a single instance of people being referred to in the manner described by beyond

Getting offend by hypothetical ways of referring to people is more than a little pointless.

"autistics have to live by other peoples rules"

From one thread today (i apologise in advance to the poster for quoting them)

I am probably one of the people who offended her.

I used Autistics while talking about the fact that people thing high functioning autistics always function at that level.

I use it the same way I would to say most asthmatics should keep an inhaler or most diabetics monitor their sugar.

There is nothing wrong with it as a descriptive grouping word in the right context.

I have said quite clearly that the term 'autistics, was used on the World Autism Day thread. It has been used on other threads recently too.

"Many autistics function in an NT world"

From a different thread, different poster, also today (and i apologise again for quoting)

I'll actually give him a call later and see what he says on the issue (can't do it now, he's in computer time).

My money is on him being quite happy with autistics anyway. It's impossible to set a rule on this thing - the whole autist/person with autism/autistic person debate is proof of that. Best you can hope for is to offend as few people as possible.

Wouldn't a polite heads up have been better on the thread in question?

Interestingly, I see people talk about "disabled people" and "the disabled" all the time on here.

beyond that was said by a person who had autism themselves so they were describing themselves, it was in no way marginalising or derogatory.

dawn 'used on other threads recently' is quite different to 'four fucking times this weekend'

I did.

Best you can hope for is to offend as few people as possible.

At a guess, making as few generalisations as possible is likely to be a good start

I never mentioned the context, i was just pointing out in response to dawns annoyance being called "hypothetical" that the word has been used today, more than once.

I said upthread, this hadnt even occured to me, so i could well have been one of the people who used it myself.