The changing face of autism in Brazil

At the end of 2012, after intensive lobbying by parent activist associations, a federal law recognized autism as a "disability for all legal purposes" in Brazil. Defining autism as a disability was more than a change of legal status to guarantee social benefits. It was also a political maneuver, orchestrated by parent associations, aimed to take the responsibility for treatment away from the public mental health network of services. This article examines the controversies that have set parent associations in direct antagonism with mental health professionals in the public health system. We draw from ethnographic data and theoretical discussions in the field of disability studies to situate these controversies within the context of a larger debate on the relationship between health, rights, and citizenship. We found similarities between the ethical and political goals of parent activists and mental health professionals in Brazil, but we argue that the main cause of dissent is the role that each of these social actors assigns to identity politics in their clinical and political projects.