Autism and the Social World: An Anthropological Perspective

Abstract

This article offers an anthropological perspective on autism, a condition at once neurological and social, which complements existing psychological accounts of the disorder, expanding the scope of inquiry from the interpersonal domain, in which autism has been predominantly examined, to the socio-cultural one. Persons with autism need to be viewed not only as individuals in relation to other individuals, but as members of social groups and communities who act, displaying both social competencies and difficulties, in relation to socially and culturally ordered expectations of behavior. The article articulates a socio-cultural approach to perspective-taking in autism in three social domains: (1) participating in conversational turn-taking and sequences; (2) formulating situational scenarios; and (3) interpreting socio-cultural meanings of indexical forms and behavior. Providing ethnographic data on the everyday lives of high-functioning children with autism and Asperger syndrome, the article outlines a cline of competence across the three domains, from most success in conversational turn-taking to least in inferring indexical meanings. Implications of these abilities and limitations are considered for theoretical approaches to society and culture, illuminating how members of social groups are at once shaped by, and are agents of, social life and cultural understanding.

On the Asperger experience of interaction: Interpersonal dynamics in dyadic conversations

“…This indicates that the AS subjects were behaving some what comparably to the neurotypical people in a quasi-natural conversational interaction. This observation may be accounted for with reference to the insights of [62], who considered the distinction between "social as interpersonal" and "social as socio-cultural" as key to understanding the challenges that individuals with autism face when accomplishing perspective-taking in social interaction. According to these authors, it is in the socio-cultural domain of sociality that individuals with autism encounter most problems.…”

A exclusão na inclusão de crianças com transtorno do espectro autista em escola regular

“…Indivíduos com auti smo precisam ser vistos como membros de grupos sociais, com competências e difi culdades relacionadas às expectati vas sociais e culturalmente defi nidas 6 . Pais e profi ssionais de saúde podem ter visões discordantes em relação às crianças com TEA.…”

Uso do Registro Audiovisual em uma Oficina de Música para Crianças com Autismo

“…Nessa mesma linha, para Ochs et al (2004), uma das principais dificuldades enfrentadas por sujeitos com autismo no reconhecimento das intenções e estados psicológicos se refere ao descentramento sociocultural, isto é, à adoção do ponto de vista do outro por meio da "atenção dos membros às expectativas comportamentais associadas com situações cultural e socialmente organizadas" (Ochs et al 2004, 156). Analisando 381 horas de áudio e vídeo de 16 crianças entre oito e 12 anos, diagnostica-das com autismo, esses pesquisadores encontraram diversos momentos em que elas faziam tomadas de perspectiva em situações de interação cotidiana, com membros da família em casa, indo e voltando da escola, e com os pares e professores.…”