Anthropologizing Experiences of Autism

Abstract

Educational anthropology has long been interested in how people learn about the world around them and how to live in it. Anthropologists in this field have explored how people understand their surroundings cognitively (knowing the slope of a hill where one grows crops, knowing how to read a map and street signs), and culturally (knowing what social cues and behaviors are appropriate, knowing the dos and don’ts of a community). They have researched the deliberate ways that people obtain this knowledge (through parents, schools, media, churches, etc.), and how they pass it on to others. Their research has shown how people become socialized into their families, local communities, workplaces, and societies. As an extension to this research, this book provides a unique example of how this socialization occurs when people are suddenly faced with a situation they may have never dreamed of facing—raising a child diagnosed with autism: What practices do they engage in? How do they talk about their experiences? How do they adopt a new lifestyle? By interrogating this socialization process, I describe in real life moments how the practices of autism parents are negotiated and renegotiated through a collaborative, educative process. This process simultaneously teaches them what it means to be an autism parent, while allowing them to co-construct the meanings of autism parenthood.