AUTISTIC PERSON, NOT PERSON WITH AUTISM
The correct term to use is "autistic person."
The neurology of autistic people is not an accessory. We are not “living with autism” and we don’t “suffer from autism”. We are not “on the spectrum” nor a ”person with autism.” There is no “with autism,” as if the autism is an added quality – the autism is our quality, not merely our condition but our character. Autism is who we are. We are autistic people. An autistic person, simply.
Early on, I would write 'person/s with autism.' As in persons with something they carry around with them, that they can put down and leave behind and be independent of. That's an error. The correct term is autistic person. That's who you are, not a cloak you can discard at will. (I had to go over an awful lot of writing substituting "person/people with autism" for "autistic person/people" - like I don't have enough to do! Gotta get it right! I think we are all on a learning curve. When I argue for education, as in educating society, I am educating myself too. We all have something to learn.)
