Reversing the vicious circle of psycho-emotional disablism in the education of autistic people

This paper reflects on findings from a number of consultation exercises that were undertaken on behalf of the Autism Education Trust (AET) in the development of nationally recognised training materials, school standards and practitioner competencies, as well as pilot studies conducted in the course of a wider thesis regarding a phenomenological and discursive analysis of educational narratives regarding autistic learners, with the aim to uncover common ground and tensions between stakeholder groups in order to provide recommendations for practice. These studies included surveys and interviews with parents, practitioners and autistic people, and a collaborative action research project with autistic adults.

Contested narratives regarding best educational practice for autistic learners reflect wider narrative constructions of autism, ranging from a description of autism as a medically defined disorder which affects normal social functioning in need of intervention, to a diverse neurological style that needs to be understood and interacted with on more equal terms. Thus the ontology of what autism pertains to leads to the construction of very differing accounts of inclusion and what counts as social justice for autistic people.

It is argued here, that it is essential for the dominance of cognitive-behavioural accounts of autistic deficit within educational theory and practice to be challenged, so that autistic people do not develop feeling devalued for who they are due a vicious circle of psycho-emotional disablement (Reeve, 2011) that the implementation of such practices can create. To reverse the circle there needs to be a fundamental change in the ideology of educational theory and practice from one of behavioural modification to fit into society, to one of mutual respect. In keeping with other autistic self-advocates, this paper will refer to ‘autistic people’, and ‘those who identify as on the autism spectrum’, rather than ‘people with autism’.