"I'm a normal autistic person, not an abnormal neurotypical": Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis as biographical illumination. (January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tan, Catherine D.
• Is Part Of: Social science & medicine. Volume 197(2018)
• Page Start: 161
• Page End: 167
• Publication Date: 2018-01
• Subjects: United States -- Biographical disruption -- Experience of illness -- Autism spectrum disorder -- Diagnosis -- Identity -- Self-concept; Social medicine -- Periodicals; Medical anthropology -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; Psychology -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Médecine sociale -- Périodiques; Anthropologie médicale -- Périodiques; Santé publique -- Périodiques; Psychologie -- Périodiques; Médecine -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 362.105
• DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.12.008
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0277-9536

Abstract

Abstract: Building on Michael Bury's "biographical disruption" and Kathy Charmaz's "loss of self, " which describe the deteriorative impacts of chronic illness on perceptions of selfhood, I propose "biographical illumination"—a transformed conceptualization of self and identity that is facilitated by but extends beyond medical meaning, enriching personal biography and social relationships. The concept is perhaps most applicable to experiences with neurological and neurodevelopmental conditions in which brain difference and personhood are perceived to be closely intertwined. In this study, biographical illumination is used to describe the experiences of autistic adults who learned of their Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis during teen years or adulthood. Through an ASD lens, participants found explanation for their atypicality and developed a more valued self-concept. Learning of the condition did not disrupt their biography; rather, it became integral to and constitutive of it. With a new self-concept, participants re-gauged personal expectations for normalization and accessed communities of alike others, forging relationships that affirmed identity. Highlights: Biographical illumination (BI) refers to enrichment & cultivation of self-concept. (BI) is facilitated by but extends beyond medical meaning. In (BI), the condition becomes integral to and constitutive of self. Acquiring an ASD diagnosis during teens and adulthood can bring about (BI). (BI) is perhaps most applicable to neurological/neurodevelopmental conditions.