Intersectionality Within Critical Autism Studies: A Narrative Review

Area of Science:

• Disability Studies
• Critical Autism Studies
• Sociology

Background:

• Intersectionality is vital for understanding marginalized communities.
• Disability studies uses intersectionality to examine race, gender, sexuality, and class impacts.
• Critical autism studies challenges deficit-based models of autism.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine intersectionality within critical autism studies.
• To highlight intersectional frameworks in academic and non-academic contexts.
• To provide a foundation for future research on autism and intersectionality.

Main Methods:

• Narrative review of existing literature.
• Analysis of overarching themes in intersectional approaches to autism.
• Identification of biases and multidisciplinary nature of the field.

Main Results:

• Identified explicit, implicit, and descriptive approaches to intersectionality.
• Found evidence of racial and gender biases in critical autism studies.
• Confirmed the multidisciplinary nature of intersectionality and critical autism studies.

Conclusions:

• Intersectionality is integral to critical autism studies.
• Recommendations are provided for future research to be more inclusive.
• Emphasizes using intersectionality to address overlooked phenomena and biases.