Autism or Autistic or Autist?
Christopher Gillberg discusses how in healthcare a diagnosis provides valuable knowledge for treatment, but individuals should not be defined solely by their conditions, such as autism or ADHD.
[Posted on 20th September 2024 by Christopher Gillberg]
In healthcare, assessments are often made that result in a diagnosis. The word "diagnosis" comes from the Greek "Via Gnosis" (meaning "through knowledge") and essentially means that by gaining knowledge about a problem, we can help the person seeking assistance in the best way possible.
We all have both strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes we have weaknesses/disabilities/problems/symptoms/illnesses that lead us to seek healthcare, where we may receive a diagnosis and, in that case, often have some form of intervention or treatment recommended. The diagnosis itself is often very helpful, as it frequently brings new knowledge.
In the area of healthcare now often referred to as neuropsychiatry — where we talk about neuropsychiatric disorders (NDDs) — diagnoses such as autism, ADHD, Tourette's syndrome, and others are made. These diagnoses are "syndromes," meaning they are categories made up of various symptoms that occur together in a somewhat predictable way.
In fact, the term neuropsychiatry is not particularly good, because all mental health problems in some sense are "neuro" (i.e., related to the nervous system). I have personally introduced the collective term ESSENCE (Early Symptomatic Syndromes Eliciting Neurodevelopmental Clinical Examinations) to (1) avoid talking about disorders, illnesses, or disabilities, (2) emphasise that symptoms or concerns about problems appear early and often lead parents to seek help in early childhood, and (3) stress that if individuals meet criteria for a diagnosis within ESSENCE (such as autism), they almost always meet the criteria for at least one other diagnosis (such as ADHD).
In recent years, the term neurodiversity has been widely discussed, and some people use this term only for individuals who meet criteria for autism and/or ADHD. I would argue that we are all "neurodiverse," and there is no person on our planet with the exact same "neurofunction"; not even identical twins have identical brain functions. Many who speak about neurodiversity believe that everyone except those with autism and/or ADHD are neurotypical. I can guarantee that there is no one on earth who is completely typical.
Back to the topic of strengths, weaknesses, and diagnoses. A person with autism, as I mentioned earlier, almost always meets the criteria for at least one more diagnosis within ESSENCE. The person also always has strengths. To say that the person is autistic or is an "autist" is misleading. No person with autism is defined solely — or even "mostly" — by "their" autism.
Co-occurring ADHD and/or learning difficulties (or epilepsy) often cause much more trouble in the long run. The only reasonable approach is to say that the person has autism and ADHD (and epilepsy), not that they are an autist and ADHD-ist (and epileptic).
Over the past 50 years, we have made significant progress when it comes to a better attitude towards individuals with, for example, epilepsy and cerebral palsy. We no longer say that someone is an epileptic or that they are CP; we say that they have epilepsy or cerebral palsy. People with epilepsy and/or cerebral palsy quite often have autism. Are these individuals now epileptic-CP-autists? — By the way, we don't call someone with pneumonia a "pneumonist" or someone with cystic fibrosis a "cystic fibrost."
So stop calling people with autism "autists"! And for those of you who have been diagnosed with autism: stop believing that you are just "autists"!
[This is a blog. The purpose of the blog is to provide information and raise awareness concerning important issues. All views and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily shared by the GNC.]
