This exchange left me annoyed, because autistic people should both be supported in our language choices for ourselves and have access to the more clear language. I choose to use identity-first language for myself, I’m an autistic person. If others choose to identify as a person with autism, that choice should be supported too. In any case, the only people who have a right to claim an identity related to autism are autistic people. By hijacking our identities, autism parents muck up language. I am not a “mom with autism with children with autism.” I’m not an “autism mom with autism.” I am an
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