Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables
- Figures
- Preface
- Foreword
- Abbreviations
- Contributors
- Chapter 1 An Afrocentric perspective on Inclusive Education and Ubuntu
- Chapter 2 Framing Autism
- Chapter 3 Early Identification and Curriculum Differentiation for Learners with Autism
- Chapter 4 Religion and Autism: Integrating the Person with Autism into a Community
- Chapter 5 Voices and Views of Senior Students with ASD
- Chapter 6 Learners with ASD in a Rural Context
- Chapter 7 Technology Opening New Worlds for those with Autism – an Overview
- Chapter 8 Partnerships for Autism in the Zimbabwean Inclusive Education System
- Chapter 9 Parents and community partnerships in educating children with ASD as an Inclusive Education strategy
- Chapter 10 ASD: Adolescents and Sexual Experiences in Rural Mpumalanga
- Chapter 11 Classroom Assessment of Learners with Autism – Implications for Educators
- Chapter 12 Autism and inclusion
- Chapter 13 Autism and the Law
- A Preliminary Conclusion: Trends in ASD Research in South(ern) Africa
- Appendix: Autism-related organisations in South Africa
- Index
Chapter 2 - Framing Autism
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables
- Figures
- Preface
- Foreword
- Abbreviations
- Contributors
- Chapter 1 An Afrocentric perspective on Inclusive Education and Ubuntu
- Chapter 2 Framing Autism
- Chapter 3 Early Identification and Curriculum Differentiation for Learners with Autism
- Chapter 4 Religion and Autism: Integrating the Person with Autism into a Community
- Chapter 5 Voices and Views of Senior Students with ASD
- Chapter 6 Learners with ASD in a Rural Context
- Chapter 7 Technology Opening New Worlds for those with Autism – an Overview
- Chapter 8 Partnerships for Autism in the Zimbabwean Inclusive Education System
- Chapter 9 Parents and community partnerships in educating children with ASD as an Inclusive Education strategy
- Chapter 10 ASD: Adolescents and Sexual Experiences in Rural Mpumalanga
- Chapter 11 Classroom Assessment of Learners with Autism – Implications for Educators
- Chapter 12 Autism and inclusion
- Chapter 13 Autism and the Law
- A Preliminary Conclusion: Trends in ASD Research in South(ern) Africa
- Appendix: Autism-related organisations in South Africa
- Index
Summary
Abstract
This chapter examines how South African organisations frame autism on their websites. I illustrate how the resultant narrative shapes public opinion and proceed to disturb the dominance of the medical model and clinical description of autism. This model is in stark contrast to the social model of inclusion, which South Africa formally adopted in 2001. Drawing on the concept of empathetic scholarship introduced by the emerging field of Critical Autism Studies, I analyse 64 South African organisations’ websites. My analysis exposes that the dominant narrative on autism as an undesirable medical condition creates panic and perpetuates stigma. Moreover, the economic drivers of pathology render autism advocates complicit. In contrast, the counter-narrative of neurodiversity recognises autism as natural human difference to be respected as any other difference. This holds promise for how parents and teachers view individuals with autism and respond to their needs.
Introduction
Many parents experience their child's autism diagnosis as frightening, overwhelming (McCollum, 2012:101) and traumatic (Dale, Jahoda & Knott, 2006:464). Similarly, Navot, Jorgenson, van der Stoep, Toth and Webb (2016:605) have described the diagnosis of autism as a significant stressor for parents. Moreover, studies such as those conducted by Kaniel and Siman-Tov (2011) and Giallo, Wood, Jellett and Porter (2011) have found that parents of children with autism experience more fatigue, stress, depression and anxiety, compared to parents of children with other disabilities. This is consistent with Dudley- Marling and Gurn's (2010:5) argument that ‘living on the boundary of the normal curve’ affects the life quality of parents of children with disabilities. People search for meaning and justifications (Dale, Jahoda & Knott 2006:464) to make sense of stressful events and often seek online information related to education, practical help and support (Clasquin- Johnson & Clasquin-Johnson, 2018:4; Meadan, Stoner & Angell, 2015:1679; McCollum, 2012:108). I therefore conducted a literature review of South African websites to illuminate how autism is framed on these websites.
The internet shapes public opinions about autism (Thibault, 2014:60). While only about half of South Africans have access to the internet (De Villiers 2019), that is an increase from approximately one-third a decade earlier (Statistics SA, 2011:66), and it is an important source of information for those who do have access.
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- AutismPerspectives from Africa Volume 1, pp. 6 - 24Publisher: University of South AfricaPrint publication year: 2020