How we talk about autism 

The wider autistic population have historically not always been consulted on decisions around how we talk about autism, and the use of iconography. As an organisation, we would like to share some useful information to those new to the autism community, or those seeking to be kept in the loop about how autistic people view ourselves about how we view, talk about, and represent ourselves.

Autism and Disability

Autism is a protected characteristic in law under the Equality Act 2010. This means that autistic people have the same rights to access to education, employment, and wider society as everyone else.  

Many autistic people use the social model of disability when talking about autism. This means that they view society as being something that can disable autistic people. We can be less able to work, learn, or thrive in certain environments if our autistic needs are not met. Those needs can include sensory support, communication differences, and executive functioning aids. When these needs are met, autistic people are often just as capable, if not more so, than peers.  

Even when all needs are met successfully, some autistic people may still experience things like crisis points which can be inherently disabling.

As an organisation we acknowledge autism as a disability for many reasons: 

• We do not view disability as inherently negative

• ·Recognising autism as a disability allows us to seek protection in national and international law

• Accepting our autism related disabilities as a natural part of autistic lived experience can make it easier to allow ourselves to adopt support strategies

At Autism Understanding Scotland, we support and respect the right of every autistic person to choose whether or not they identify as disabled.

Research carried out on behalf of Inspiring Scotland showed that the great majority of the public in Scotland, up to 99%, is ‘aware’ of autism. That means most of us have heard that autism exists. There is a significant difference between being aware of something and understanding it, however.

Autism is often stigmatised and widely misunderstood. Representation of autism in the media is often problematic and based on stereotypes. Mostly these stereotypes involve white males. That autistic people may be BAME, girls, women, trans, or non-binary, is rarely acknowledged. Autism related news reports can often be problematic too. Autistic people are not always interviewed or consulted when an autism news story breaks. Many news articles cover things like problematic research, and don’t always cover autistic success or strengths.

Many autistic led organisations work for ‘autism acceptance’ rather than ‘autism awareness’. Acceptance of autism means acknowledging the autistic person as a whole autistic human being and not a “broken neurotypical person” or a stereotype. It means those working with, supporting, employing, or raising autistic individuals can accept autism as a part of the natural diversity of human brain development. Autism is not something to fear or work against.

We can be better equipped to address the sensory, social, and emotional needs and the human rights, of autistic people when we accept our autistic lived experiences. Trying to seek to ‘cure’, eliminate, or train autistic people to be more ‘normal’ is extremely damaging and strongly linked to poor mental health. See also our page on PBS/ABA.

Keep in mind, our lived experience is that we do not prevail despite being autistic, we often do so because we are autistic.

Surveys carried out by a large range of organisations have consistently shown that the majority of the global autistic population prefer identity first language. This means using terminology that places autism at the core of who we are. Everyone has multiple identities — sibling, parent, teacher, CEO, engineer, friend, etc. etc. We generally don’t describe ourselves as ‘having Scottishness’ or ’having maleness’ — we would say ‘I am a Scottish man’. In the same way, most autistic people would say, “I am autistic”, rather than “I have autism”.  Autism is not an accessory we carry around like a handbag, we cannot leave it at home.

Autism is about the structural differences in our brain. It informs all of our experiences: how we see, hear, think, feel about the world, and communicate. Autism is not the only thing that defines an autistic person, but most of us see of our identities as filtered through our autistic experiences. We are autistic siblings, autistic parents, autistic friends and colleagues.

Some autistic people may choose to use person first language and we respect their choice. In keeping with the preference for most autistic people, we use identity first language. It is good practice to ask individual autistic people how they wish to be referred to. When discussing the autistic population more generally, we usually advise others to use the term “autistic person” rather than “person with autism”.  

Many autistic people, professionals, and parents are moving away from the use of functioning labels (high functioning/low functioning). The term ‘support needs’ may be used instead – e.g. he has high support needs, they have low support needs.

• Support needs are not static and can change throughout the lifespan as well as fluctuate on a daily basis.

• The term high functioning is often used for autistic people without an intellectual disability and does not recognise the significant struggles they may have navigating daily life. It has historically been used to deny people the support they need

• The term low functioning is often used for autistic people with an intellectual disability and has been used to wrongly deny those individuals opportunities to grow and develop skills

• Someone with high support needs may be a professional graduate who is married with children. On the outside they may look very similar to their neighbours but rely on significant support.

• Someone with low support needs may not have any qualifications, but able to work, manage their own finances, and manage daily household tasks with little to no help.

The puzzle piece symbol is commonly seen as associated with autism. However, it is important to remember that a large proportion of the autistic community not only have trouble with the puzzle piece, but actually find it highly offensive.

The common use of primary colours and the fact puzzle pieces are associated with children means that this iconography continues the infantilisation of autistic adults.

You may hear autistic people saying things like “I am not a puzzle to be solved”, “I am not missing any pieces because I am autistic” etc.

Due to its problematic and ableist history, and current use by controversial organisations, many autistic people find the use of the puzzle piece unacceptable.

Autistic-led organisations tend use a wide variety of symbols instead, but the infinity logo either in gold for autism acceptance, or rainbow for neurodiversity, is often used. It’s important to ask for permission before using such iconography for events or graphics.