“If you write about the mentally ill – people who suffer a short breakdown, maybe, or long periods of crippling stress – or say that those who must cope with autism, depression or schizophrenia all their lives are “handicapped”, you will be hammered.” So says Nick Cohen in a recent blog post in the UK’s Spectator magazine.

Now I think Nick Cohen is a great journalist and agree with him on a lot of issues but and this is a bit but here I’m really convinced he is right. So what do I mean?

Now my son , who as regular readers will know , is on the autistic spectrum certainly had a learning disability which is part and parcel of is ASD. I’d accept that not all autistics have a learning disability but many do and many others show symptoms of disabilities in other areas of their lives. So I feel no big concern to described my son as a person with disabilities. Because he is.

So I would not hammer anyone for describing him as such.

That said I really don’t like the word handicapped at all. What I suspect Cohen may be thinking is that many of us in the autism community, and I would guess this goes for people in the various different mental health communities, don’t feel that autistics etc are “less” as people in any way. They are just different. Their humanity is not lessened by their condition.

That of course is just my view and I’m really interested in yours.

So I would love it if you could take part in the poll I’ve set up below.

It would be brilliant if you could use the comments box below to add any thoughts you may have on the subject. I’d love to read them and sure our other readers would as well.

Thanks in advance.