Language Preferences in the Dutch Autism Community: A Social Psychological Approach.

Cross-sectional survey data cannot show cause and effect; language preferences may have influenced community identification, or vice versa. The sample was convenience and snowball recruited, so it is not fully representative of the Dutch autism community. It included more women than men, and it is unclear whether non-verbal autistic adults were reached. Of 313 people who opened the survey, 215 completed it, and 42 stopped after the identification items, so people willing to report community identification may be overrepresented. The study was done in the Netherlands in Dutch, so language preferences may not generalise to other countries or languages, and the authors note possible negative connotations of identity-first language in Dutch. The researchers measured language preferences using survey items that themselves used terms such as autism community and having autism, which could have influenced responses. Perceived prejudice was measured with one item developed for the study, with unknown psychometric qualities, and it was asked before the main questions, so it may have primed participants.

Do not conclude that person-first language should be used for all autistic clients, or that identity-first language should be assumed for autistic clients. In this Dutch sample, person-first language was overall preferred, but there was considerable individual variation, identity-first language was not rejected on average, and the sample was a convenience survey rather than a clinical trial.