Which terms should be used to describe autism? Perspectives from the UK autism community

Abstract

Recent public discussions suggest that there is much disagreement about the way autism is and should be described. This study sought to elicit the views and preferences of UK autism community members - autistic people, parents and their broader support network - about the terms they use to describe autism. In all, 3470 UK residents responded to an online survey on their preferred ways of describing autism and their rationale for such preferences. The results clearly show that people use many terms to describe autism. The most highly endorsed terms were 'autism' and 'on the autism spectrum', and to a lesser extent, 'autism spectrum disorder', for which there was consensus across community groups. The groups disagreed, however, on the use of several terms. The term 'autistic' was endorsed by a large percentage of autistic adults, family members/friends and parents but by considerably fewer professionals; 'person with autism' was endorsed by almost half of professionals but by fewer autistic adults and parents. Qualitative analysis of an open-ended question revealed the reasons underlying respondents' preferences. These findings demonstrate that there is no single way of describing autism that is universally accepted and preferred by the UK's autism community and that some disagreements appear deeply entrenched.

Protective Effect or Missed Diagnosis? Females with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…by deficits in social communication and reciprocity, and by restricted and repetitive interests and behaviours 1 . ASD is the current term used to integrate the previously separate diagnostic categories of autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder -not otherwise specified (aka 'atypical autism' [2]).…”

“…ASD is a lifelong condition that is present from birth. Although adult diagnosis is possible, symptoms must be reported as present from early developmental stages in order for the 1 In line with preferences from a majority of the autism community [1], we use identity-first language (e.g. 'autistic person') to refer to individuals with an ASD throughout this paper, while recognising that others might prefer person-first language (e.g.…”

Human-Centered Design with Autistic University Students: Interface, Interaction and Information Preferences

“…'Functioning labels', describing autistic people as 'highfunctioning' or 'low-functioning', can be misleading and even offensive to autistic adults and their families (Kenny et al, 2015;Feminist Aspie, 2015). However, all students in this study were either realistically considering higher education or had some experience of higher education study, and therefore did not have a co-morbid intellectual impairment.…”

Atypical information-use in children with autism spectrum disorder during judgments of child and adult face identity

“…Relative to typically developing individuals, differences and difficulties have been reported in processing of emotional expressions (see Harms, Martin, & Wallace, 2010) and social cues such as eye gaze (Nation & Penny, 2008; Senju & Johnson, 2009) (note—here and elsewhere we make use of preferred, identity-first terminology; Kenny et al, 2015). Atypicalities are also reported in the discrimination and recognition of face identity (Behrmann et al, 2006; Boucher, Lewis, & Collis, 1998; Croydon, Pimperton, Ewing, Duchaine, & Pellicano, 2014; Gepner, de Gelder, & de Schonen, 1996; Hauck, Fein, Maltby, Waterhouse, & Feinstein, 1998; Klin et al, 1999; Tantam, Monaghan, Nicholson, & Stirling, 1989; Wallace, Coleman, & Bailey, 2008), particularly when tasks involve a memory component or careful processing of the eyes (see, Weigelt, Koldewyn, & Kanwisher, 2012).…”