The Social, Cultural, and Political Discourses of Autism

Download or read book The Social, Cultural, and Political Discourses of Autism written by Jessica Nina Lester and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-11-13 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taking up a social constructionist position, this book illustrates the social and cultural construction of autism as made visible in everyday, educational, institutional and historical discourses, alongside a careful consideration of the bodily and material realities of embodied differences. The authors highlight the economic consequences of a disabling culture, and explore how autism fits within broader arguments related to normality, abnormality and stigma. To do this, they provide a theoretically and historically grounded discussion of autism—one designed to layer and complicate the discussions that surround autism and disability in schools, health clinics, and society writ large. In addition, they locate this discussion across two contexts – the US and the UK – and draw upon empirical examples to illustrate the key points. Located at the intersection of critical disability studies and discourse studies, the book offers a critical reframing of autism and childhood mental health disorders more generally.