Turowetz2015
| Turowetz2015 | |
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| BibType | ARTICLE |
| Key | Turowetz2015 |
| Author(s) | Jason Turowetz |
| Title | The Interactional Production of a Clinical Fact in a Case of Autism |
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| Tag(s) | EMCA, Medical, Autism, Diagnosis, Storytelling |
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| Year | 2015 |
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| Journal | Qualitative Sociology |
| Volume | 38 |
| Number | 1 |
| Pages | 57–78 |
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Abstract
The authority to diagnose is a distinguishing prerogative of modern medicine. While a growing body of research addresses various aspects of diagnosis, few studies analyze just how it is achieved through talk-in-interaction. This paper examines how clinicians assembled a diagnosis of a child who was evaluated for autism. Drawing on audio and video recordings at a clinic for developmental disabilities, I use a combination of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis to show how a critical fact about the child’s mental functioning was formulated, challenged, and transformed across three consecutive stages of his valuation: (1) testing, (2) a case conference among clinicians, and (3) an informing interview where the diagnosis was delivered to the parents. I analyze how this fact emerged as an outcome of clinician-child interactions, and how clinicians used storytelling to render its diagnostic implications. In addition to examining how these stories are methodically produced, I argue that they frame the child’s behavior in ways that suggest a lack of competence while eliding the skills and competencies he may have been displaying.
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