Biomedicalization of times: Therapies, biosocialities and daily cares in children with ASD diagnostic in Buenos Aires

Abstract

The influence of the Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis on the perception and organization of time in daily life by families, especially mothers, of children diagnosed with ASD is analyzed. Results stem from two graduate investigations. The methodology is qualitative, reconstructing the life stories of four mothers who, throughout 2015, accompanied their children diagnosed with ASD to a Therapeutic Center in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Two lines are considered: first, the medicalization and biomedicalization as concentric ringed processes in three levels: macro, meso and micro, deepening the analysis in the latter. Second, the link between diagnostic and treatment processes in mental health and the biosocialities. Some considerations on sociology of time are also incorporated. The results show the incidence of the ASD diagnosis over time, in four areas: the transformation of daily activities, by attending therapeutic spaces; the expectations regarding free time and leisure; the changes that, if possible, have been made in the time the children diagnosed with ASD have been carrying out the therapy; and the beliefs and thoughts of their relatives about the future of the children diagnosed with ASD.