“Living with autism” or “lives with autism” is a fairly common descriptor used by print and broadcast journalists.
It has to go. Why are they afraid to just state, “Joel is autistic”?
What’s up with reporters and TV personalities who keep using, “He lives with autism,” or, “Kaetlynn is living with autism”?
Stop it. Yes, stop it. There’s a big problem with “lives with autism.”
This comes across as an inference that Autism Spectrum Disorder is a disease.
After all, how many times have we read or heard stated on TV, “He lives with cancer,” or, “She’s been living with schizophrenia for over 10 years,” or, “Mitch lives with diabetes”?
Autism is not a disease. It’s a different way of thinking and processing information.
We Autists think and see the world differently.
ASD is not a malfunction in hardware; it’s a different type of software.
It seems as though journalists and reporters are afraid to just come right out and use “autistic” or even “has autism.”
It’s as though they’re tiptoeing around ASD because they perceive it as something to pity or be intimidated by, so to counter these impressions, they use “lives with autism.”
I don’t live with my autism. I AM my autism; it defines so much of what I am, how I process information, how I think.
It’s not separate from my existence. It’s ME. Likewise, I’m athletic. I don’t live with athleticism. I’m artistic. I don’t live with artism.
Autistic people live with family members. They live with pets.
To say they live with autism projects the idea that being autistic is a terrible thing – that it’s something that you’re stuck living with.
Now certainly, I’m not going to deny that ASD comes with struggles.
Recently my autism (once again) has impeded my ability to form even a superficial friendship, or to put another way, buddyship, with at least two people who are related.
I got misunderstood (as has happened all throughout my life), and now, they want nothing to do with me (and ironically, they know I’m autistic).
I guess my neurodivergent vibe got to them.
I must now work on processing this with way too much overthinking and rehearsing future hypothetical conversations should an issue related to this misunderstanding ever come up with other people who may have been told about it by the individuals involved (whew!) — and then so very hopefully, be able to move on and put this crap way behind me forever.
I’ll never deny that me being me has been a total turnoff to throngs of people all throughout my life.
But despite all of this, I refuse to go with “lives with autism.”
I am not diseased. I don’t have an illness. I don’t have a mental sickness.
I am simply wired differently, living in a neurotypical-run world that’s not designed for autistic people to thrive.
So to all the journalists and reporters, doggone it, stop chickening out and JUST SAY IT: He/she/John/Mary is autistic.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical and fitness topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer. In 2022 she received a diagnosis of Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder and subsequently has developed an intense interest in ASD.
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