Against the Impairment Model of Autism
This is an interesting one.
Autism tends to be defined and characterised in terms of its deficits, putting the emphasis on those things a person lacks – the famous Triad of Impairments. These impairments are defined in relation to a ‘normal’ society of ‘normal’ others. Which is to say that autism is defined in terms of the weaknesses of autistic people rather than their strength. It takes strength – and not little faith, hope, and courage – to turn up every day and face a society which isn’t geared to your strengths and interests, which instead seems designed to expose and magnify your weaknesses. Every day the cross-purposes, the mistakes, the explanations and apologetics.
I don’t reject the Triad of Impairments. I used it myself as I navigated my way through assessment and diagnosis. There is a problem, andthe nature of the problem needs to be identified precisely. But there are strengths to the condition as well. I wouldn’t go so far as to call them superpowers. But they can be, in the right circumstances with the right people.
