Autism itself actually isn't a disability': Negotiating a 'normal' versus 'abnormal' autistic identity

Area of Science:

• Sociology of health and illness
• Disability studies
• Autism research

Background:

• Tensions exist between the social model of disability and biomedical views on impairment concerning 'normality'.
• Understanding how normality and abnormality, disability and ability are perceived in relation to autism is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how parents, professionals, and people with autism manage the dilemmatic tensions of normality/abnormality and disability/ability.
• To investigate the implications for professionals supporting families of children with autism.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of focus group data involving parents, professionals, and individuals with autism.
• Exploration of how participants asserted their positions and considered the limitations of 'cure' rhetoric.

Main Results:

• Findings indicate blurred boundaries of normality concerning autism.
• Autistic identity is shown to be fluid.
• Participants invoked epistemic rights to assert their perspectives.

Conclusions:

• Medical sociology can facilitate understanding autism as a social category.
• Professionals must balance support for families of autistic children without being intrusive.
• The study highlights the complexity of defining normality within the context of autism.