A friend showed me an article today: Study: Drivers With Autism Just As Good As Other Motorists. My friend joked that they needed a bumper sticker that said “Autism is my co-pilot” since they were clearly driving with autism (as opposed to driving while Autistic.)

autism is my copilot

[image description: a square white sticker that says autism is my co-pilot.  Available on Redbubble by clicking the image or clicking these words.]

A 2018 study found that “Drivers With Autism Just As Good As Other Motorists”. A friend pointed out that if you’re driving with autism, autism is your co-pilot. Now, most Autistics I know don’t drive, but if you’re one that does drive celebrate by putting this sticker on your vehicle, letting the world know that, hey! you’ve got this driving thing down. After all, you’re with autism!

After getting their permission to “steal” that brilliant idea, more ideas kept coming. There are so many ways to be with autism, after all.

You’ll need someplace to store and carry that autism you’re with:

Autistic people can go about our lives without a care, but the moment someone insists we are really a “person with autism” we have to figure out where to put our autism so we don’t accidentally leave it behind at home. Enter the autism bag. A clear label warns others to stay away from your autism while sturdy straps allow you to carry your autism along everywhere you go. The stylish accessory every person (with autism) needs.

Caution Autism

[image description: a teal drawstring bag that says Caution! this bag is filled with autism. Available on Redbubble by clicking the image or clicking these words.]


caution autism

[image description: a purple tote bag that says Caution! this bag is filled with autism. Available on Redbubble by clicking the image or clicking these words.]

But I hadn’t quite captured the full zeitgeist of person-first language. There needed to be a t-shirt that acknowledged the autism accompanying a person. And here it is:

I'm with autism

[image description: a red t-shirt that says I’m with autism and has a hand pointing to the left. Available on Redbubble by clicking the image or clicking these words.]

Are you an Autistic who keeps getting called a person with autism? (Is being with autism like being with child?) Tell the world that you are here with autism. Autism is evidently right next to you. “What, you can’t see it? How can that be possible? I am clearly a person. With autism.”

In case it’s not clear, all these designs are satire, meant to snark a little bit at person-first language with its assumption that autism can be sifted out of a person and set off to the side as something incidental that “just happens” to exist but “doesn’t define” the person who is carrying it around like a pet or an accessory.