Person- and Identity-First Language in Autism Research: A Systematic Analysis of Abstracts from 11 Autism Journals

We examined the use of person- and identity-first language (PFL, IFL) in scholarly writing about autism by reviewing 12,962 journal abstracts from 11 autism research journals (mostly covering the years 2001-2022). We found a preference for PFL (64.68%) over IFL (15.83%) when considering aggregated, within-journal breakdowns (with abstracts using both representing 19.50%). However, when examining language use longitudinally, we observed a general trend toward increasing use of IFL after years of stable trends showing predominant use of PFL. These trends were not consistent across all reviewed journals, as some journals demonstrated preference for either PFL or IFL across all observed years. Notably, we highlight the "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders" as a special case that offers a 51-year perspective (1971-2022); here, IFL was predominant until the 1990s, when PFL became a stable majority, and in the late 2010s, IFL started to increase. Journal differences in aggregate breakdowns and longitudinal trends are discussed in line with recent policy changes, journal submission guidelines, and shifting perspectives in autism research. Implications for writing about autistic individuals and the role that language plays within the broader autism research scholarly community are discussed.