Autyzm odcieleśniony. Historia społecznego konstruowania autyzmu… jako choroby, zaburzenia i niepełnosprawności

Abstract

Autism disembodied. The history of social construction of autism as illness, disorder, and disability The article is an attempt to look at the history of discourse about autism from the perspective of autism studies. Due to the blurred definition and yet unknown etiology autism was used as a space for modern cultural projections about disability and mental illness. As I argue, both the determination of modern scientific institutions and their failure to objectify autism using empirical methods are linked to the disembodied nature of autism, which still reveals it arbitrariness and social – not natural – construction. As late as in 21th century, autistic people have joined the discourse about themselves, trying to make autism a positive and integral aspect of their identity. Keywords: autism, Asperger syndrome, disability, mental illness, eugenics