“We, mothers of autistic people”: between knowledge of the experience and collective memories in videos on YouTube

Abstract

This paper results from research that analyzed the narratives of mothers of autistic children about their experiences with their children, produced and shared by them through videos on YouTube. We used a qualitative methodology to debate the logic and meanings attributed to ill-ness, health, motherhood, and childcare, towards a narrative reconstruction produced by us re-searchers. We observed that these women spoke primarily about their experiences as mothers of autistic children and directly addressed the emo-tional difficulties of having a child with autism, such as mourning the ideal child promoted by the diagnosis and the construction of care for an autistic child. Through the videos, the mothers form an identification group based on the premise that they lived everyday experiences, generating sig-nificant value and becoming an existential capi-tal. Talking about such experiences in public and far-reaching spaces like YouTube produces, among other things, collective memories that develop a caring community. We understand that the individual story reported and produced in the videos can emotionally and pragmatically help others with a similar experience, re-inhabiting daily life.