Critical autism parenting

Self-defence in the face of parent-blaming has had a pernicious effect on people with autism and their family members. Rooted in the history of the Child Guidance movement, and then the need of neoliberal societies for “perfect” and productive citizen-consumers, it has given rise to an autism industry that devalues, dehumanises and damages autistic people. Pitting parents against each other for limited decent services has a proven track record in autism when it comes to selling therapies and treatments, no matter how misguided. Parents find themselves pressured into trying to force their autistic child into a specific societal mould, enriching many professionals along the way but never succeeding. Professionals under fire have also found parents useful as public relations and defence mouthpieces. The result is the “autism mother warrior” model of parenting, in which parents’ field of action is limited to choosing from a marketplace of commercial options. This valorised role epitomises the result of normative rhetorics that turn parenting into a profit centre. There is a way out: autism acceptance, and collective, cross-disability action.