Viraj Bhat works at a software company in Bengaluru. He has lived for 33 years with a developmental disorder that typically impairs cognitive, social and emotional health. He doesn’t mind being called autistic. It is acceptable to him, in fact, an affirmation of his real self. What gets his goat is to be identified as an individual with “special needs”. “In my opinion,” he says, “people should refer to those living with autism and learning disabilities, as autists and learning disabled. When you use ‘special needs’, people are trying too hard to recognise our difficulties.” 

Bhat is part of a growing community of disability advocates, allies and experts opposing  the use of politically correct terms. It’s time we change our vocabulary, they argue. This is a sea change from a few decades ago when visually challenged was considered a more appropriate term to use for the blind.