"To be nobody-but-yourself" in an allistic world…
"To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody but yourself — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." - e.e. cummings
The conversation around person-first language — "person with autism" vs. "autistic person" (the preferred nomenclature of actually autistic people) — is absurd.
If autism is the exception, and "allism" (or neurotypical) is the rule…let's flip the script:
"I have allism" vs "I am autistic"
"People suffering from allism" vs "People suffering from autism"
And more:
"People with allism because allism does not define them"
"You don't look allistic"
"I've heard people with severe allism can be very challenging"
"Person with allism — person first, because we need to be reminded that they're people, that's important"
"Let's find a cure for allism spectrum disorder"
In case you struggle with understanding sarcasm — the above is sarcastic, and meant to illustrate the illogical use of person-first language, as well as the stereotyping of autistic people.
Autistic people still need support, validation, accommodation, and the boundary-setting, self-advocacy, mind-body connection - all of which are social skills - to help them be as successful as possible, in a world that insists on the hidden codes of conformity.