Autism mom and support group leader

[Hope.in.our.journey]

Hi Everyone,
I am a mom of a daughter with autism and have built a face to face community of other parents that are looking far any and all advice, support, information, knowledge, etc. I came across this while doing research for an upcoming topic we are going to discuss. I am also a professional mental health counselor that enjoys helping others heal and i love helping parents and individuals gain knowledge and insight on how to best advocate for themselves in various settings.
Cheerio,
Rachael

 

[Nitro]

 

[Magna]

Welcome. It's good to hear of more NT parents who are interested in both support and in learning about their autistic children. You will likely find this forum a good resource. Many of us are far into adulthood and even retirement age so we've lived life in the "real world" as autistics and therefore have perspectives to share that are different for that reason.

Also @Hope.in.our.journey I noticed you used "person first" language when referring to your daughter with autism. Some people do prefer that usage rather than an "autistic daughter". I know person first language is common in the mental healthcare field as well. You may or may not know this, but a significant number of us prefer to refer to ourselves as autistic. It's entirely personal preference of course and both ways should be respected and accepted. To some of us, person first language is off-putting or even offensive because it's regarded, again by some, (myself included) as trying to separate the individual from their autism as if autism is something to be ashamed of. I am proud to be autistic and to be a member of the autistic community.

In relation to autism, my understanding is that "person-first" language originated outside of the autism community and instead originated in the NT (neurotypical) community.

Here is a good article on the subject from ASAN (Autism Self Advocacy Network) that speaks to this issue and it's interesting reading for anyone who has an interest in autism:

Identity-First Language - Autistic Self Advocacy Network

The reason I think many in the autism community oppose "person-first" language for themselves is that it connotes autism as a negative, an abnormality, a problem. the word "person" in "person-first" usage implies that "person" is referencing normal first and then describes how the person isn't normal (with autism). It implies "person" = "normal" = Neurotypical as the standard and then describes how the autistic person deviates from the normal (with autism). For example, a neurotypical person isn't referred to as a "person-without (x, y or z)" which again implies that NT people are "normal", the "standard" for the measure of a human. Most of us don't see it that way and feel that "person first" is an attempt to cleave/separate the "bad" (ie autism) from the "good" (ie the person). We don't think of being autistic as being "bad". Temple Grandin refers to autistic people as: "Different but not less". I agree with that completely.

 

[VictorR]

Welcome! I'm also glad to hear that you're passionate about trying to help others.