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The sample was comprised of 60 autistic adults in Canada
•Mage = 37.07 years old, SD = 10.85, range 19 to 67 years
•33 women, 10 men, 10 non-binary / two-spirit / agender /
gender-diverse, 7 non-disclosed
•All participants identified as having an autism diagnosis, using
mostly spoken language to communicate, and not having a
concurrent intellectual disability
Participants completed online surveys:
(1) Autism-Spectrum Quotient (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001)
•Mean = 37.20, SD = 7.26, range 30 to 48
(2) Slider from 0 to 100 to indicate:
•How much they agree with the medical vs. social model of
disability (Mean = 89.75, SD = 15.47)
•Perceived challenges vs. strengths associated with autism
(Mean = 52.93, SD = 14.30)
•Autistic pride (Mean = 74.32, SD = 27.77)
•Willingness to spend time with other autistic people (Mean =
88.18, SD = 18.74)
•How much they would change about their autism (Mean =
25.43, SD = 27.40)
•Extent challenges are due to autism or due to external
barriers (Mean = 75.00, SD = 20.40)
67%
11%
22%
Terminology Preference for
Others Talking About You
Investigating Autistic Adults’ Preferences for the Social Model of
Disability and Identity-First Terminology
Troy Q. Boucher¹, Nichole E. Scheerer², Philippa Hood¹, Vivian Ly¹, Hilary Aime¹, & Grace Iarocci¹
¹ Simon Fraser University, Department of Psychology, Burnaby, BC ² Western University, Department of Psychology, London, ON
•Many autistic adults have advocated for autism to be viewed under
the social model of disability
•A person is disabled by their environment and its physical, social,
and attitudinal barriers
•Adopts identity-first language (e.g., autistic person, disabled
person)
•The current and most dominant model is the medical model
•Disability is seen as an individual problem caused by innate
deficits associated with the disorder
•Adopts person-first language (e.g., person with autism, person
with disabilities)
Determine the model of disability that autistic adults prefer and how
this relates to their views of autism
•There was a clear preference for the social model of disability for
conceptualizing autism
•Identity-first language was most preferred by participants
•The preference for the social model of disability was related to autistic
participants’ sense of autistic pride, external attribution of challenges they
experience, willingness to spend time with other autistic people, and a
preference for identity-first language
•These findings call for the serious consideration of the social model of disability
in clinical and medical settings in an effort to respect the preferences and
desires of autistic adults
Objective
Method
Results
020 40 60 80 100
"People with Autism"
"People Diagnosed with
Autism"
"People with ASD"
"People with Autism
Spectrum Conditions"
"Have Autism"
"Are Autistic"
"Autistic People"
"Autistics"
"Aspies"
"People on the Autism
Spectrum"
"Are on the Autism
Spectrum"
No Label
Autistic Adult Terminology Preferences
Strongly Dislike Dislike Neither Like nor Dislike Like Strongly Like
Spearman Correlations
Greater endorsement of the Social Model was positively related with:
•Autistic Pride (r(58) = .381, p= .003)
•Willingness to spend time with other autistic people (r(58) = .291, p=
.024)
•External attribution of challenges they experience (r(58) = .408, p≤
.001)
• Preference for the term “autistic people” (r(58) = .411, p≤ .001)
Greater endorsement of the Social Model was negatively related with:
•The desire to change anything about their autism (r(58) = -.382, p=
.003)
• Preference for the term “People with Autism/ASD” (r(58) = -.404, p=
.002)
85%
9% 6%
Terminology Preference for
You Talking About Yourself
Slider Averages
Which of these models do you think is better for thinking
about autism and related disabilities?
Medical Model Social Model
0 25 50 75 100
Answer:
How willing are you to spend time (either online or in-
person) with autistic people / people with autism?
Not willing at all Very
Willing
0 25 50 75 100
Answer:
Do you think autism gives more strengths or challenges?
Only challenges Only
strengths
0 25 50 75 100
Answer:
If you could change anything about your autism, how much
would you change?
Do not want to change anything Want to change
everything
0 25 50 75 100
Answer:
Do you feel proud of being autistic / having autism?
0 = I am not at all proud of being autistic / having autism
100 = I am very proud of being autistic / having autism
0 25 50 75 100
Answer:
Autistic people / people with autism face many challenges in
life. Are the challenges you face due to your autism or due
to barriers created by other people, places, and systems?
Only due to my autism Only due to barriers created by others
0 25 50 75 100
Answer:
90 88
52 25
74 75
Results
Contact: tboucher@sfu.ca
Key Findings and Implications
Background