”I may lack a social imagination, but I have a sociological one”: sociology and the empowerment of insider voices in the field of autism studies

In recent years there has been an increase in sociological accounts of autism, often from academics who are also parents of autistic children (Nadesan, 2005; Waltz, 2012). However, recent reports have shown a lack of funding for research into the social issues faced by autistic people and their families, along with a lack of participation and collaboration with autistic people themselves (Pellicano et al. 2013). This presentation will reflect on a number of projects and initiatives that seek to begin to redress this balance, in which the author of this paper has participated in. These projects include an action research project involving the setting up of an online study group in sociology run by and for autistic adults (Milton and Moon, 2012); being on the editorial board of a new journal set up by autistic scholars (Autonomy, 2012); and how these initiatives have led to the setting up of the ‘Theorising Autism’ project, which involves a yearly seminar day led by autistic scholars, and the publishing of further journal articles (Milton and Bracher, 2013). This presentation will discuss the achievements of these projects, including how one person involved in the projects described the experience as ‘life changing’, as well as the barriers faced in regard to critical autistic voices, or even a sociological view being expressed within mainstream literature on the subject, one that is dominated by biomedical and psychological perspectives.