From disempowerment to well-being and flow: Enabling autistic communication in schools

Wood, R. (2023) From disempowerment to well-being and flow: Enabling autistic communication in schools. In: Milton, D. and Ryan, S. (eds.) The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Autism Studies. Series: Routledge International Handbooks. Routledge: Abingdon, pp. 277-287. ISBN 9781003056577 (doi: 10.4324/9781003056577-27)

Abstract

According to the standard diagnostic criteria for autism, communication difficulties and autism are inextricably interconnected. Even if verbal fluency is acknowledged as existent, autistic speech can still be posited as deficient in some way, and language must pass the ‘functionality’ test in any case. In this chapter, drawing from my own research study, I explore some of the ways in which autistic communication is defined and described, and discuss the consequences of these depictions for school settings. I provide examples of how, despite instances of positive support, well-intentioned interventions in school can lead to a denial of the value of autistic communication. This in turn leads to a diminishment of agency on the part of the children. Nevertheless, the children themselves shine a light on how best to engage with them, and show that through silent resistance and deep interests, they can not only reclaim their own agency, but demonstrate the circumstances in which they communicate more fully. The case for setting aside the unquestioned association between autism and communicative disorder – and by extension, cognitive irrationality – is therefore argued.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Wood, Dr Rebecca
• Authors: Wood, R.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Publisher: Routledge
• ISBN: 9781003056577
• Published Online: 22 December 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 the author
• First Published: First published in The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Autism Studies, 277-287
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy