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Abstract

Abstract

Background: Language around autism plays a crucial role in shaping public attitudes toward autistic people. The use of identity-first versus person-first language and impersonal references to autism can affect how autistic people are perceived. These factors should impact the representation of autistic people in newspapers, where negative and stereotypical representations are often perpetuated.

Method: We asked five autistic people to judge the sentiment toward autism and autistic people in 1000 quotes from British newspapers (2011–2020). The coders, who did not know the newspaper title and time of publication, made their judgments based on two dimensions, warmth and competence, from the Stereotype Content Model (SCM). We examined the overall judgments of warmth and competence and considered variations in language context and terminology, such as the use of impersonal references to autism or identity-first and person-first language. We also examined potential differences between broadsheets and tabloids, left- and right-leaning newspapers, and changes over time.

Results: The majority of quotes from British newspapers fell under a low warmth and low competence area within SCM. Furthermore, impersonal references to autism tended to be rated lower in warmth and competence than references linking autism to an individual, whereas identity-first language was judged higher in warmth and competence than person-first language. Quotes from broadsheets were assigned similar warmth and slightly higher competence than quotes from tabloids. However, left-leaning and right-leaning papers did not differ regarding warmth and competence, and there were inconsistent changes over time.

Conclusion: Our study confirms that the portrayal of autistic people in British newspapers tends to be negative. According to autistic raters, associating autism with a person and using identity-first language are linked to more positive representations. Although we found subtle variations in sentiment related to reporting style, our study shows little progress over time toward more positive portrayals.

Community Brief

Why is this an important issue?
Newspapers frequently portray autistic people in a negative and stereotypical way, emphasizing their challenges and weaknesses instead of their needs and strengths. Also, newspapers frequently use language and terminology that do not respect how autistic people wish to be addressed. Newspaper language can have a negative impact on the mental well-being of autistic people and hinder their acceptance.

What was the purpose of this study?
This study looked at how autistic people perceive the language newspapers use to portray them. It also looked at how autistic people perceive the language of newspapers with different reporting styles (broadsheets vs. tabloids), political orientation (left- vs. right-leaning), and changes over time.

What did the researchers do?
We asked five autistic people to look at 1000 quotes about autism from British newspapers, published from 2011 to 2020. The autistic experts didn’t know which newspaper the quotes were from or when they had been published. They rated each quote based on two things: warmth and competence. Warmth referred to how much autistic people were portrayed as friendly, trustworthy, sincere, tolerant, and kind, whereas competence referred to how much autistic people were portrayed as intelligent, efficient, ingenious, knowledgeable, and powerful. The coders also indicated how confident they felt about these judgments.

What were the results of the study?
The autistic experts rated most quotes as having low warmth and low competence. Quotes referring to “autism” in a general way, without referencing autistic people, tended to be rated low on warmth and competence. Furthermore, quotes using identity-first language, for example, “autistic person,” tended to be rated higher in warmth and competence than those using person-first language, for example, “person with autism.” Quotes from broadsheets were seen as conveying similar warmth and slightly higher competence than quotes from tabloids. There was no difference between left- and right-leaning papers and no clear pattern of change over time.

What do these findings add to what was already known?
This study shows that, according to autistic raters, the recent British press portrays autistic people in a negative way. It also highlights the important role of terminology that the press uses to refer to autistic people. The findings provide subtle evidence that broadsheets offer a slightly more positive representation of autistic people than tabloids. But they challenge the idea that portrayals of autistic people in newspapers have become more positive over time.

What are potential weaknesses in the study?
One potential weakness is that the individual experts sometimes differed in how they felt about individual quotes. These differences, as well as potential differences between autistic and non-autistic people, should be examined in future research.

How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?
The findings suggest that newspapers should take steps toward representing autistic people in a more positive way, to shift attitudes toward autistic people in society. They also highlight the importance of language and terminology and that autistic people should be involved in guiding newspapers toward promoting more inclusive views.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is the accepted version of the following article: Karaminis, T. , Botha, M., Longley, S. , Waldock, K. E., Storey, S., Strachan, K., Ransom, N. & Pellicano, E. (2024). Language Matters in British Newspapers: A Participatory Analysis of the Autism UK Press Corpus. Autism in Adulthood, which has now been formally published in final form at Autism in Adulthood at https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2023.0105. This original submission version of the article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers’ self-archiving terms and conditions.
Publisher Keywords:	autism, newspapers, language, stereotypes, stigma, acceptance
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) R Medicine > RC Internal medicine
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Psychology
Related URLs:	Author
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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