The third principle, time and place, recognises that the life courses of individuals are embedded in historical times and places (Bengtson, Elder & Putney, 2005). This principle considers key historical events that occur across an individual's life course, which can provide opportunities or restrict choices and ultimately transform the course of an individual's life (Bengtson, Elder & Putney, 2005; Hutchison, 2005). The current sociohistorical and sociocultural context surrounding informants in this study includes the emerging autistic culture and inclusive education.
Understandings of Autism have differed greatly in modern times. Historically, Autism has been categorised by a variety of diagnoses (e.g. from childhood schizophrenia in the early 1900’s, though various definitions using the concept of an Autism
spectrum) associated with deficits, impairments and problems (Molloy & Vasil, 2002). Attitudes towards autistic young people may be driven by representations of Autism
Page 175 of 261 in the media, which, at times, reinforce myths and contribute to negative Autism stereotypes (Palanivel, Anjay & Palanivel, 2010). The portrayal of autistic characters in some television shows and movies are influenced by extreme cultural stereotypes of Autism, such as hand flapping (i.e. stimming), restricted interests, autistic savant abilities and limited eye contact (Loftis, 2015; Palanivel, Anjay & Palanivel, 2010). Recently, more television shows and movies have included autistic characters to increase Autism awareness. For example, the children’s television series ‘Sesame Street’ and ‘Arnold’ both have autistic characters and more recently, in 2017 in
Australia, a television series called ‘Atypical’ was aired. Within contemporary society, Autism is progressively being viewed as an “inseparable aspect of identity” (Kapp, Gillespie-Lynch, Sherman & Hutman, 2013, p. 59). This more holistic perspective of Autism has been driven by the neurodiversity movement.
The neurodiversity movement views Autism and other disabilities as natural variation and has shaped a culture in which people who belong to these minority groups can feel accepted and understood. Autistic young people typically experience different “ways of being-in-the-world” (Davidson, 2008, p. 793), and this creates a culture distinct from the mainstream culture. The contemporary autistic culture evolved from advocates within the Autism community, including autistic young people and parents and caregivers. As described by Arden (2015), “Culture is created by the leadership” (p. 1). Within the autistic community, leaders such as Autism advocates initially had the greatest influence of the evolution of the autistic culture. As the internet became increasingly accessible, the contemporary autistic culture became more widely recognised and autistic advocates were able to create websites and blogs to form a space for people to find others who share similar ways of living (Davidson, 2008; Dekker, 2006; Goodman, 2006).
This emergence of the contemporary autistic culture has increased awareness of neurodiversity and more autistic young people have started to reclaim language that was once “used against them as a slur, and give it a positive meaning, within that particular group, as an expression of solidarity and pride in one's identity” (Umstead, 2012, para 6). Today, more autistic young people are using identity-first language, such as autistic person, to “recognize, affirm, and validate an individual’s identity as an autistic person” (Brown, 2011, para 18). This self-identification aligns with the neurodiversity movement as it acknowledges that being autistic is not a tragedy that
Page 176 of 261 needs to be cured, but a characteristic. In contrast to people within the Autism
community, the majority of professionals who work with autistic young people prefer to use person-first language, as they consider it more respectful to refer to the person before the disability (Kenny et al., 2016).
There are some similarities between the history of categorising those with Autism and other minority groups. For example, homosexuality was once considered a mental illness, but was removed from the DSM-III in 1973 as there were “competing theories: those that pathologized homosexuality and those that viewed it as normal” (Drescher, 2015, p. 565). Similarly, contemporary autistic culture considers Autism as part of the natural variation, however it is presented in the DSM-V as a disorder within “the medical/psychiatric classificatory paradigm” (Molloy & Vasil, 2002, p. 659). If Autism were to be removed from the DSM as a diagnosable condition, possible consequences may include restricted access to funding and services to assist with some of the associated challenges of Autism, including the co-occurring mental health conditions. However, if Autism was considered a natural variation, perhaps greater social inclusion would buffer the development of co-occurring mental health conditions. This is because feeling socially excluded can be,
“associated with poor mental health, and exclusion and mental health problems can join together in a destructive loop” (Dewall, 2011). Researchers and bloggers have predicted that, in the future, society will be appalled when we reflect on how Autism was previously viewed, as a disorder to be treated and cured, rather than a quality to be embraced (Davidson & Henderson, 2010).
The principle of inclusive education has evolved to match current sociocultural trends (Australian Government: Department of Education and Training, 2005). Historically, children with disabilities participated in segregated education. However, more recently, educational policies such as The Disability Discrimination Act in 1992 and the Education for All movement, have contributed to the shift to inclusive models or inclusive classrooms. Using inclusive classrooms for autistic young people
“facilitates their social, cognitive, emotional, language and behavioral development” (Boujut, Dean, Grouselle & Cappe, 2016, p. 2886).
Most classroom teachers in this research identified that they felt inadequate when teaching a child on the Autism spectrum, due to a lack of resources and support. For
Page 177 of 261 teachers who feel inadequate, research indicates that they often start to believe that they are unskilled and unable to successfully perform their role as a teacher (Ruble, Usher & McGrew, 2013). Professional development for school staff, particularly addressing the inclusion of students on the Autism spectrum in mainstream classrooms, may support teachers to feel more confident. Mainstream classroom teachers value time for planning, administrative support and opportunities to engage in professional development to increase their confidence to teach students on the Autism spectrum (Messemer, 2010). In particular, coaching, rather than workshops or one-time training sessions, may be more effective for teachers and other
professionals working with autistic young people (Pas, Johnson, Larson,
Brandenburg, Church & Bradshaw, 2016; Wilson, Dykstra, Watson, Boyd & Crais, 2012).