Use of Science in Autism Policy Development

Abstract

Though ultimately beneficial to society, interactions between science and politics require careful tending. Because science is an exercise in trial and error, public policy development can be affected by both scien-tific missteps and the length of time it takes to produce reasonable scientific certainty. Introduction of scientific findings, especially more preliminary ones, into the political process has a mixed record. Un-derstanding how these tensions play out in contemporary politics is important for both disability studies and policy studies generally. This article explores how science and scientific evidence is employed by stakeholders engaged with autism policy development in the United States.