When I started working with people with developmental disabilities, I was taught very emphatically to use certain terms:
- person-first language (people with disabilities vs. disabled people)
- autism spectrum (he/she is on the autism spectrum vs. he/she is autistic)
... so many more.
A few years ago I had the pleasure and honor of attending a function where Temple Grandin, a very famous advocate of the autistic community, spoke about her experience as a woman with autism navigating the world now. She told us about how she had to get used to the wireless microphone that she was wearing on her face plus the fact that her throat was a bit sore so she had to be drinking warm liquid (tea with lemon I believe?) while she was talking to us. I remember her referring to the microphone as "this contraption" that was touching her face.
What struck me, though, is her emphatic disagreement with the terminology of autism being a "spectrum." She said that she is autistic (her words), and that was different from x, y, and z who would be considered on the spectrum.
My line of work is quick to identify with folks "on the spectrum."
And yet, my own experience hates the "spectrum" term.
My brother has Asperger's Syndrome. His choice of words, and if you look at the DSM of the appropriate time, it describes him so perfectly it's uncanny. And let's think about it for a second. One of the characteristics of anyone on the spectrum (sorry brother) is a sense of absoluteness. G demonstrates that to me and explains it to me regularly -- one of the honors I have as a sister is to be able to hear his story when he has calmed down from a difficult situation.
So, like... why are we so hung up on what to call folks or how to classify folks of differing abilities (you'll never get me away from that one)?
Why not just ask them?