Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36601265›Full record

ArticleAutism in adulthood2021

Avoiding Ableist Language: Suggestions for Autism Researchers.

Kristen Bottema-Beutel, Steven K Kapp, Jessica Nina Lester, Noah J Sasson, Brittany N Hand

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Autism in adulthood, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 418 papers, 15 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
418citing papers in PubMed, 15 pooled it
61.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

418 citing papers in PubMed, 15 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,084 citations in OpenAlex.

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  4. Meta-analysis of Psychotherapy for Autistic Youth.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026
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  20. No added cost: Emotion recognition in co-occurring ADHD and ASD.The British journal of clinical psychology · 2026
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358 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Kristen Bottema-BeutelLynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA.
Steven K KappDepartment of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
Jessica Nina LesterSchool of Education, Indiana University at Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Noah J SassonSchool of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, USA.
Brittany N HandSchool of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Boston College · USIndiana University Bloomington · USOhio Department of Health · USThe University of Texas at Dallas · USUniversity of Portsmouth · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In this commentary, we describe how language used to communicate about autism within much of autism research can reflect and perpetuate ableist ideologies (i.e., beliefs and practices that discriminate against people with disabilities), whether or not researchers intend to have such effects. Drawing largely from autistic scholarship on this subject, along with research and theory from disability studies and discourse analysis, we define ableism and its realization in linguistic practices, provide a historical overview of ableist language used to describe autism, and review calls from autistic researchers and laypeople to adopt alternative ways of speaking and writing. Finally, we provide several specific avenues to aid autism researchers in reflecting on and adjusting their language choices. Lay summary:

Indexed as

ableismableist discourseautismlanguageneurodiversity

Identifiers

PMID36601265
PMCPMC8992888
OpenAlexW3083347663

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.