Autistic culture online: virtual communication and cultural expression on the spectrum

Abstract

Drawing on first-hand accounts of the Autism Spectrum (AS), this paper argues that that there are distinctive autistic styles of communication. It suggests that these differences can usefully be conceptualized in Wittgensteinian terms as 'language games', and further, that these are associated with an autistic culture emerging alongside their practice, particularly online. The Internet is shown to be an appropriate, accommodating medium for those on the spectrum, given characteristic preferences for communication at a socio-spatial distance. The Internet has potential implications for AS social exclusion/inclusion, and hopes expressed in AS writings are high; one author claims that '[t]he impact of the Internet on autistics may one day be compared to the spread of sign language among the deaf' (Singer 1999: 67). This paper investigates such claims, and the extent to which those with autism describe using the Internet to connect with similar Others, not just for social support, but to organize and advocate for recognition of autistic cultural difference.

Special Units for Young People on the Autistic Spectrum in Mainstream Schools: Sites of Normalisation, Abnormalisation, Inclusion, and Exclusion

“…The safeness of the AS unit has resonance to the Internet as a virtual space of acceptance for people on the AS (Davidson, 2008). The unit facilitated developing friendships and a sense of collective identity, with potential implications for political self-identification (Cook et al, 2003).…”

“…This reflects the marginalisation and othering of these young people in policy and media debates. Accounts that emphasise the experiences of young people on the AS could help to transform negative representations of them in broader society and education policy and practice (see also Davidson, 2008;Davidson and Henderson, 2010b;Davidson and Smith, 2009). Although interested in the experiences of young people on the AS, we draw upon a critical notion of their agency.…”

“…Although not a deliberate attempt at collective selfidentification (cf. Davidson, 2008;Davidson and Parr, 2010), the contestation of everyday norms (re)produced in school spaces by the young people had immanent political possibilities.…”

“…The paper thereby contributes to a growing geographical interest in the life-worlds of individuals on the AS (Davidson, 2008(Davidson, , 2010Davidson and Henderson, 2010a, b;Davidson and Smith, 2009) and, more broadly, those whose practices conflict with everyday, emplaced, expectations of behaviour (e.g. Parr, 2008;Pinfold, 2000;Wilton, 2004).…”

The affective labour of autism neuroscience: Entangling emotions, thoughts and feelings in a scientific research practice

“…Autism has increased in both prominence and visibility in recent decades, and an increase in UK prevalence to 1% (Baron-Cohen et al 2009), has made autism the focus of a growing popular and political concern (Murray, 2008). And yet, despite this emergence, autism has not yet been fixed to any firm genetic or neurological marker (Lord et al, 2011;Gupta and State, 2007) -a gap that makes autism a topic of growing interest to social scientists and humanists too (Grinker, 2007;Eyal et al 2010;Davidson, 2008). This paper emerges from a research project in which, as a sociologist of neuroscience, I have been trying to think about the ways that autism gets figured by the theories, methods and institutions of the new brain sciences.…”