Abstract
This perspective article draws on my own lived experience as an autistic person, combined with my academic research at the intersection of languages and politics. My main aim is to suggest a new interdisciplinary approach to autistic communication that aims to accommodate our different communication styles rather than modify our communication to fit non-autistic communication norms. I call this new interdisciplinary approach ‘autistic linguistic justice’, and introduce five concepts to help initiate research and advocacy on this topic. The concepts I introduce are: the sociolinguistics of securitization, language revitalization, linguistic human rights, language policy and planning, and language ethics. Each concept is briefly introduced, and examples are given of how they can be applied to accommodating autistic communication. In the conclusion, I provide recommendations for how families, practitioners (such as teachers and doctors), autism researchers, and autistic people can use these concepts to help build autistic linguistic justice together. Given that many of the concepts I draw on have been developed by other minoritized communities, I emphasize the need for building respectful and mutually beneficial solidarity with these communities.
Community Brief
Why is this topic important?
This article focuses on autistic communication, which is a core feature of autism. It provides a new way of thinking about autistic communication.
What is the purpose of this article?
This article discusses how autistic people’s communication styles can be more widely accepted in society. It introduces five new concepts to autism studies. The five concepts are: securitization, revitalization, linguistic human rights, language planning, and language ethics. Securitization describes how autistic communication is monitored, restricted, and criticized. Language revitalization discusses how autistic people can become comfortable with our unique ways of communicating. Linguistic human rights discusses how human rights must be protected so that autistic people can advocate for our communication needs. Language planning discusses government policies and practices to support autistic communication. Finally, language ethics looks at how autistic people can live a good life through language.
What personal or professional perspectives do the authors bring to this topic?
The author is a late-diagnosed autistic person. He is also an academic expert in the study of language, society, and politics. He selected the five topics in this article based on his knowledge of relevant research and his lived experience as an autistic person.
What is already known about this topic?
A lot is already known about autistic communication. However, most of this research was done by psychologists, speech therapists, and other health researchers. There is not much other research on autistic communication. The five concepts discussed in this article have never been introduced to autism researchers or autistic people.
What does the author recommend?
The author makes recommendations for autism researchers, practitioners, families, and autistic people. For autism researchers, more interdisciplinary research is recommended. For families, the author suggests how they can create environments that allow autistic people to communicate authentically. For practitioners like teachers and doctors, the author suggests how they can remove barriers to autistic communication and advocate for policy changes. Finally, the author suggests how autistic individuals can develop theories and practices that create acceptance of our unique ways of communicating.
How will these recommendations help autistic adults now or in the future?
These recommendations will help autistic adults by providing new ideas and practices to help non-autistic people accept and accommodate our unique ways of communicating. It also helps autistic people to understand our communication style as a social and political problem that needs social and political solutions.
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