Lester2015

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Lester2015
BibType ARTICLE
Key Lester2015
Author(s) Jessica Nina Lester, Trena M. Paulus
Title “I’m not sure I even know”: therapists’ tentative constructions of autism
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, Autism, Discursive Psychology
Publisher
Year 2015
Language English
City
Month
Journal Review of Disability Studies
Volume 11
Number 3
Pages
URL Link
DOI
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

Autism has historically been constructed within and through biomedical discourses and practices. Therapeutic interventions have focused on “treating” and “curing” the individual diagnosed with autism, with therapists positioned as the “experts.” In this paper, we report findings from a discourse analysis informed by discursive psychology of eight interviews with therapists of children with autism labels. While the therapists were frequently positioned as “experts” with presumed “stocks of knowledge,” they were reluctant to definitively name autism as something with clearly defined characteristics, thereby making evident the shifting nature of knowledge surrounding what autism “really is.” We discuss implications for practitioners and others, as well as point to the importance of engaging in social constructionist studies of the discourses surrounding autism.

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