ERIC Number: EJ1316591
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Aug
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-2004
EISSN: N/A
The Red Fish in a Shoal of Greenish-Blue Fish? A Critique of the Biomedical Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Leysen, Joyce; Jacobs, Delphine; Ramaekers, Stefan
Educational Theory, v71 n4 p435-454 Aug 2021
The biomedical model states that autism "is" a neurodevelopmental disorder, called autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this article, Joyce Leysen, Delphine Jacobs, and Stefan Ramaekers argue that this is a narrow way of looking at autism and, further, that the biomedical view has implications for our understanding of parenthood and circumscribes the pedagogical agency of parents of children diagnosed with ASD. The authors adopt a critical stance toward assumptions implicit in the biomedical model concerning autism, reject the model's status as a norm, and problematize the demands the biomedical approach places on parents. As both the object of analysis and an illustration of their argument, Leysen, Jacobs, and Ramaekers use an example of neurodiscourse that introduces the biomedical model of ASD on the public stage to a broad audience. Then, they propose that Martin Buber's thoughts on "continual beginning anew," the "dialogical nature" of the parent-child relationship, and the importance of "attention to the whole human being" can provide a means to open up the currently narrow confines of the biomedical perspective on autism. Finally, the authors use Buber's concepts to articulate a "pedagogical" view on the parent-child relationship that restores parents' pedagogical agency.
Descriptors: Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Biomedicine, Models, Parent Child Relationship, Definitions
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A