Breaking the stigma around autism: moving away from neuronormativity using epistemic justice and 4E cognition

Added on 27/08/2024

Type de contenu

Journal article of the type Theoretical development ( ; english)

Mylène Legault, Amandine Catala*, Pierre Poirier , Breaking the stigma around autism: moving away from neuronormativity using epistemic justice and 4E cognition published in the journal "Synthese", n°2024, vol.84, 23 pages , doi:10.1007/s11229-024-04730-9

*One co-author is autistic. [Learn more about this mention]

=> Restricted and paid access

Autistic people continue to face considerable stigmatization. Much work remains to be done to identify and tackle the causes of this stigmatization. We identify two related assumptions that generate and perpetuate this stigmatization: one ontological; one epistemic. We argue that breaking the stigma around autism requires addressing these twin assumptions. The ontological assumption presupposes the pathologization of autism as a disorder. Addressing this first assumption requires taking neurodiversity seriously and moving away from neuronormativity. The epistemic assumption posits that “allistics-know-best” and prevents allistics from acknowledging the epistemic limits of their own perspective. Addressing this second assumption requires centering Autistics’ perspectives and experiences in the production, dissemination, and use of knowledge about Autistics. To make our case against these two problematic assumptions, we draw on the key epistemological notions of standpoint, ignorance, and epistemic injustice—which have implications for all fields that concern minoritized groups and the contents produced about or with them. Fruitfully connecting our original pluralist conception of epistemic agency (which centers crucial experiential knowledge beyond mere propositional knowledge) to 4E cognition (embodied, embedded, extended, enacted), we identify a new category of epistemic injustice: ecological epistemic injustice. We then illustrate the importance of addressing the widespread yet problematic ontological and epistemic assumptions underlying the stigmatization of autism by turning to the case of applied behavioral analysis (ABA), which instantiates both neuronormativity and epistemic injustice.

For your information:

(1) References in blue are resources listed on our site;

(2) Authors listed in this bibliography whose names are in color have published other resources referenced on the site. Clicking on the name allows you to see the list of resources they have published and shared on the site;

(3) Authors whose names are followed by an asterisk have publicly disclosed being autistic. [Learn more about this mention]

  • American Medical Association House of Delegates (2023). "Revision of H-185.921, Removal of AMA Support for Applied Behavior Analysis". Resolution 706 (A-23)

  • T. Armstrong (2011). "The power of neurodiversity: Unleashing the advantages of your differently wired brain". Da Capo Lifelong.

  • A. Baril (2023). "Undoing Suicidism". Temple University Press

  • L. Barrett (2017). "How emotions are made: The secret life of the brain". Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

  • F. Brentano (1874). "Psychology from an empirical standpoint". Routledge.

  • J. Bruineberg, E. Rietveld (2014). "Self-organization, free energy minimization, and optimal grip on a field of affordances". Front. Hum. Neurosci., 8. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00599

  • A. Catala* (2023). "Understanding neurodiversity, unlearning neuronormativity". Blog of the APA. (Source)

  • A. Catala* (2023). "Epistemic injustice and epistemic authority on autism". In S. Tremain (Ed.), The Bloomsbury guide to philosophy of disability (pp. 241–261). Bloomsbury Academic.

  • A. Catala* (2025). "The dynamics of epistemic injustice: Situating epistemic power and agency". Oxford University Press.

  • A. Catala* (2020). "Metaepistemic Injustice and Intellectual Disability: a Pluralist Account of Epistemic Agency". Ethic Theory Moral Prac, 23(5). doi:10.1007/s10677-020-10120-0

  • R. Chapman* (2023). "Neurodiversity and capitalism". Pluto Press

  • R. Chapman*, H. Carel (2022). "Neurodiversity, epistemic injustice, and the good human life". Journal of Social Philosophy, 53(4). doi:10.1111/josp.12456

  • P. Cisek (2007). "Cortical mechanisms of action selection: the affordance competition hypothesis". Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 362(1485). doi:10.1098/rstb.2007.2054

  • A. Newen & coll. (2018). "The Oxford Handbook of 4E Cognition"

  • G. Colombetti (2017). "The feeling body: Affective science meets the enactive mind". MIT Press.

  • V. Cruveiller, G. Crespin (2017). "Les interventions comportementales intensives et précoces auprès des enfants avec autisme : une revue critique de la littérature (2009-2012)". La psychiatrie de l'enfant, Vol. 60(1). doi:10.3917/psye.601.0197

  • S. de Haan (2020). "Enactive Psychiatry". Cambridge University Press.

  • H. De Jaegher (2013). "Embodiment and sense-making in autism". Front. Integr. Neurosci., 7. doi:10.3389/fnint.2013.00015

  • M. Fricker (2007). "Epistemic Injustice". Oxford University Press.

  • M. Frye (1983). "The politics of reality: Essays in feminist theory". Crossing Press.

  • J. Gibson (1979). "The ecological approach to visual perception". Houghton Mifflin.

  • M. Gibson, P. Douglas (2018). "Disturbing Behaviours: Ole Ivar Lovaas and the Queer History of Autism Science". Catalyst, 4(2). doi:10.28968/cftt.v4i2.29579

  • S. Harding (2005). "Rethinking standpoint epistemology: What is 'Strong Objectivity'?" In A. E. Cudd & R. O. Andreasen (Eds.), Feminist theory: A philosophical anthology (1st ed., pp. 218–235). London: Blackwell Publishing.

  • B. Harrisson, L. St-Charles (2017). "L'autisme expliqué aux non-autistes". Trécarré.

  • M. Heras-Escribano (2019). "The Philosophy of Affordances". Palgrave

  • S. Kapp* (2020). "Autistic community and the neurodiversity movement: Stories from the frontline". Springer.

  • S. Kaufmann (2019). "A World Beyond Physics: The emergence and evolution of life". Oxford University Press.

  • M. Lai, M. Lombardo, A. NV Ruigrok, B. Chakrabarti, B. Auyeung, P. Szatmari, F. Happé, S. Baron-Cohen, I. (2017). "Quantifying and exploring camouflaging in men and women with autism". Autism, 21(6). doi:10.1177/1362361316671012

  • M. Maiese (2018). "Can the mind be embodied, enactive, affective, and extended?". Phenom Cogn Sci, 17(2). doi:10.1007/s11097-017-9510-6

  • A. Main (2003). "Allism: An introduction to a little-known condition". Fysh.Org.

  • J. Matson (Ed.). (2023). "Handbook of applied behavior analysis for children with autism: Clinical guide to assessment and treatment". Springer.

  • A. McLaughlin, V. Fleury (2020). "Flapping, Spinning, Rocking, and Other Repetitive Behaviors: Intervening With Young Children Who Engage in Stereotypy". Young Exceptional Children, 23(2). doi:10.1177/1096250618798338

  • C. Mills (1997). "The racial contract". Cornell University Press.

  • C. Mills (2007). "White ignorance in race and epistemologies of ignorance". In Sullivan, S., & Tuana, N. (Eds.) State University of New York Press.

  • D. Milton*, S. Ryan (2023). "The Routledge international handbook of critical autism studies (1st ed.)". Routledge.

  • L. Mottron, M. Dawson*, I. Soulières, B. Hubert, J. Burack (2006). "Enhanced Perceptual Functioning in Autism: An Update, and Eight Principles of Autistic Perception". J Autism Dev Disord, 36(1). doi:10.1007/s10803-005-0040-7

  • N. Nordyke, D. Baer, B. Etzel, J. LeBlanc (1977). "IMPLICATIONS OF THE STEREOTYPING AND MODIFICATION OF SEX ROLE". J of App Behav Analysis, 10(3). doi:10.1901/jaba.1977.10-553

  • J. Panksepp (1998). "Affective Neuroscience". Oxford University Press

  • G. Rekers, O. Ivar Lovaas (1974). "BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT OF DEVIANT SEX‐ROLE BEHAVIORS IN A MALE CHILD1". J of App Behav Analysis, 7(2). doi:10.1901/jaba.1974.7-173

  • "H. Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, M. Botha*, K. Hens, A. O'Donoghue, A. Stenning* (2023). "Being, knowing, and doing: Importing theoretical toolboxes for autism studies". Autism in Adulthood, 5(1), 15–23.

  • "H. Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, N. Chown*, A. Stenning* (2020). "Neurodiversity studies: A new critical paradigm". Routledge.

  • A. Shotwell (2014). "Implicit Knowledge: How it is Understood and Used in Feminist Theory". Philosophy Compass, 9(5). doi:10.1111/phc3.12130

  • A. Shotwell (2017). "Forms of Knowing and Epistemic Resources". The Routledge Handbook of Epistemic Injustice. doi:10.4324/9781315212043-8

  • A Shotwell (2011). "Knowing otherwise: Race, gender, and implicit understanding". Penn State Press.

  • S. Silberman (2015). "Neurotribes: The legacy of autism and the future of neurodiversity". Avery.

  • J. Sinclair (1992). "Bridging the gaps: An inside-out view of autism". In E. Shopler & G. B. Mesibov (Eds.), High-functioning individuals with autism (pp. 294–302). Springer.

  • The Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (2020). "Editor's Note: Societal changes and expression of concern about Rekers and Lovaas' (1974) Behavioral Treatment of Deviant Sex‐Role Behaviors in a Male Child". J of App Behav Analysis, 53(4). doi:10.1002/jaba.768

  • B. Toole (2019). "From Standpoint Epistemology to Epistemic Oppression". Hypatia, 34(4). doi:10.1111/hypa.12496

  • N. Walker* (2021). "Neuroqueer heresies: Notes on the neurodiversity paradigm, autistic empowerment, and postnormal possibilities". Autonomous Press.

  • R. Winkler (1977). "What Types of Sex‐Role Behavior Should Behavior Modifiers Promote?". J of App Behav Analysis, 10(3). doi:10.1901/jaba.1977.10-549

  • R. Withagen (2022). "Affective Gibsonian Psychology". Routledge


 
Summarize/Comment on/Translate this reference?