A significant amount of attention has turned to autism because of increasing rates of occurrence and increased awareness.  Along with that there is the natural tendency to be curious and ask more questions about autism.  A question that I have commonly been asked to explain is the difference between “a child with autism” and “an autistic child.” 

In the mid 1980’s, our society began to make a conscience effort to become more politically correct.  From this, the idea of People First Language emerged.  People First Language aims to eliminate generalizations and stereotypes by focusing on the person first and the disability second.  People First Language suggests stating “a child with autism”.  Proponents of People First Language suggest that we should not equate a person with a disability, as the labels are simply diagnoses.  People First Language also states that an individual should not be defined by his/her condition.  For example, a cancer patient would not be described as cancerous, nor would a child with autism be described as autistic. 

Some individuals disagree with the People First Language approach and state that autism cannot be separated from the individual and are in favor of stating that a person is autistic.  Others also argue that using People First Language is stating that the label is so negative that there is an overwhelming desire to separate oneself from the label. 

And yet, there are still some people in the middle.  Others ask, “what does it matter?”  Those that are in the middle ground state that a musician can be described as musical, and an artist can be described as artistic, so why can’t a person with autism be described as autistic?

So is it a “child with autism” or “an autistic child?”  I prefer the wisdom from this quote by Mark Twain:  ”The difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.”

Amber Bruns
Board Certified Associate Behavior Analyst
Behavior Coordinator