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Disability and diversity: the challenges faced by autistic people

Milton, Damian (2018) Disability and diversity: the challenges faced by autistic people. In: 9th Lancaster Disability Studies conference, 11-13 Seeptember 2018, Lancaster, UK. (Unpublished) (KAR id:69131)

Abstract

Autism has been variously described as everything from an evil spirit that robs parents of their children, to a differing cognitive style, or even a fundamental asset to human evolution. The spectrum of ways in which autistic people can present is so myriad, that it may be little wonder that the ‘enigma’ (Frith, 1989) still evades simplistic descriptions, as scientists search in vain for what exactly autism is. Although various attempts have been made to categorise differing subgroups of the autism spectrum, e.g. ‘Asperger Syndrome’, ‘low-functioning autism’, ‘atypical autism’; it is highly questionable as to how accurately such distinctions can be made and how useful they are in practice. This presentation looks at the challenges of understanding and addressing the needs of such a diverse array of people in relation to both traditional models of disability and that of more recent proposals. This presentation will also comment on the work of the Participatory Autism Research Collective (PARC) in relation to meeting such needs.

Item Type: Conference or workshop item (Paper)
Uncontrolled keywords: Autism, Models of Disability, Participation
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research > Tizard
Depositing User: Damian Milton
Date Deposited: 17 Sep 2018 14:48 UTC
Last Modified: 10 Dec 2022 18:03 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/69131 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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