Towards Inclusive Understandings : Analysing Czech Autism Organisations' Discourse
| Autoři | |
|---|---|
| Rok publikování | 2024 |
| Druh | Kapitola v knize |
| Fakulta / Pracoviště MU | |
| Citace | |
| Přiložené soubory | |
| Popis | While autism is still predominantly perceived as a developmental disorder globally, the neurodiversity paradigm is gradually gaining acceptance in the USA and the UK as a more appropriate approach to autism on both personal and institutional levels. However, in the Czech Republic, autism is still predominantly understood as a disorder present in children, and almost all institutional support focuses exclusively on therapy and social services. This paper aims to present an analysis of the “About autism” sections of four main autism organisations in the Czech Republic: Nautis, Paspoint, Za Sklem and Adventor. It will argue that from the very first titles on each of the four pages, it is evident that these organisations operate under the pathology paradigm and the medical model of disability. Conversely, several self-advocacy organisations in the UK and USA have been founded and are run by autistic people, with the most established among them being ASAN (Autistic Self-Advocacy Network). Since self-advocacy organisations are run by autistic people for autistic people of all ages (rather than solely for families and their children), their rhetoric focuses on autism as a form of neurodiversity and on building a community for autistic individuals. This chapter argues that while it is crucial to provide social services and care to those who need them, it is equally important for the understanding of autism in the Czech Republic to reflect the latest global developments in fields such as critical neurodiversity studies and disability studies and to implement the neurodiversity paradigm on both personal and institutional levels. |
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