Person First vs. Identity First Language

Shediac, New Brunswick

I want to first acknowledge the generation of parents that fought back against their children being identified by their diagnoses. Parents fought and fought hard for person first language. They wanted their children’s lives to be defined by who they were, not their diagnoses. To be identified by their name not “what they were” in a medicalized model. They wanted language like "A person living with Autism," that prioritized the person not the condition. There are people who still prefer this language.

In the last ten years or so, some Autistic people have begun to push back against wording like “A person living with Autism”. For many Autistic people they feel that their Autism is a core part of who they are. They wouldn’t say “Living with being a parent” or “Living as married”. They would identify themselves as parents, married people, Autistic people, Autists. For this group of people Autism is fundamental to who they are and so they use identity first language.

So, which are you supposed to use? I always recommend that people who are Autistic themselves, use the language that feels right to them. If you don’t have Autism, use the language of the person you’re with.

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