An examination of diagnostic processes that questions how we can better understand autism as a category and the unique forms of intelligence it glosses.
 
As autism has grown in prevalence, so too have our attempts to make sense of it. From placing unfounded blame on vaccines to seeking a genetic cause, Americans have struggled to understand what autism is and where it comes from. Amidst these efforts, however, a key aspect of autism has been largely overlooked: the diagnostic process itself. That process is the central focus of Autistic Intelligence. The authors ask us to question the norms by which we measure autistic behavior, to probe how that behavior can be considered sensible rather than disordered, and to explore how we can better appreciate the individuality of those who receive the diagnosis.
 
Drawing on hundreds of hours of video recordings and ethnographic observations at a clinic where professionals evaluated children for autism, the authors’ analysis of interactions among clinicians, parents, and children demystifies the categories, tools, and practices involved in the diagnostic process. Autistic Intelligence shows that autism is not a stable category; it is the outcome of complex interactional processes involving professionals, children, families, and facets of the social and clinical environments they inhabit. The authors suggest that diagnosis, in addition to carefully classifying children, also can highlight or include unique and particular contributions those with autism potentially can make to the world around us.
 

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"Autistic Intelligence: Interaction, Individuality, and the Challenges of Diagnosis proposes and characterizes a way of understanding autistic strengths, based on research conducted in two decades: the mid-1980s and the mid-2010s . . .  Autistic Intelligence is rich with stories and very readable . . . [It] richly unpacks these stories and provides tools for perhaps remaking them."

"In Autistic Intelligence: Interaction, Individuality, and the Challenges of Diagnosis, Maynard and Turowetz offer a detailed and caring investigation of the autism diagnostic process. Drawing on a wealth of data and personal experience with autism spectrum disorders, the authors argue for expanding everyday interactional repertoires to enable intersubjectivity (co-meaning making) with autistic people, increasing the flexibility of the commonsense repertoires we all use to navigate the world." - Symbolic Interaction