Abstract
The correct language to refer to someone with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder has received a lot of attention in recent years. Studies in English-speaking countries found a main identity-first language (IFL) preference (e.g. autistic person) opposed to a person-first language preference (PFL) (e.g. person with autism) among adults with autism. However, a recent study conducted in a Dutch-speaking country (the Netherlands) reported a PFL preference (Buijsman et al., 2023). The goal of the current study was to gain insights into language preferences in two Dutch-speaking countries and, in contrast to previous studies, give participants the option to indicate not having a specific language preference. In the current study, we asked 414 Dutch-speaking adults with autism, living either in Belgium or the Netherlands, to fill in an online questionnaire about their language preference. We found that over half of the participants had a PFL preference (54%), followed by having no preference (27%). Only 14% of them had an IFL preference, and 5% proposed another term. Having more years of education was identified as a predictor for having an IFL preference when compared to a PFL preference, while being older predicted having no preference compared to a PFL preference. The majority of Dutch-speaking adults with autism showed a PFL preference, which is in contrast to findings from English-speaking countries, but in accord with a recent study conducted in the Netherlands (Buijsman et al., 2023). Implications of this finding for language use are discussed.
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Data Availability
The data for this manuscript were deposited into the open science framework and are available at the following anonymized URL: https://osf.io/729yv/?view_only=30c9d7b74fa94df2a22bc09f07f3a2fc.
Notes
We use an abbreviated version of the diagnostic term, and refer to a person with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, as a person with (a diagnosis of) autism. With this, we do not intend to take a stance in the ongoing person-first versus identity-first debate, in which there is currently no consensus. We acknowledge and respect different language preferences to refer to a person with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.
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This study was funded by Research Foundation—Flanders with grant number 11I2322N.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by HDL in consultation with ADN and JRW. The first draft of the manuscript was written by HDL and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Ethical approval was granted by the ethical committee of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences with reference number 2022/032 the study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standard and all participants gave informed consent.
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De Laet, H., Nijhof, A.D. & Wiersema, J.R. Adults with Autism Prefer Person-First Language in Dutch: A Cross-Country Study. J Autism Dev Disord (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-06192-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-06192-3