Diagnosis: freedom or fetter?: illuminating gaps in service provision for people with autism and Asperger's syndrome

Abstract

This research is drawn from reflections on personal and professional experiences with people diagnosed with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome. The aim of this research was to explain gaps in services for people with Asperger's Syndrome in the Wellington Region. The objectives of the research were to identify through my practice with people with Autism, what seemed to work; to look at the new diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, it's history and reasons for being delineated; and to determine the extent to which such a diagnosis is useful in the lives of people with Asperger's Syndrome and their families. A methodology was devised using reflections about personal and professional experiences of practice drawn from a decade of radical political and economic reform. A literature review provided an historical framework for the diagnoses of Autism and Asperger's Syndrome highlighting various interventions and therapies applied when working with people and their families/whanau who have either of these diagnoses. An analytical framework was developed to use in a structural analysis of the political and economic forces that influence the design and delivery of services, as well as perspectives of disability. The framework draws from ecological developmental theory, social oppression and liberation theory. Through reflection on personal and professional experiences of working with people with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome, the bond of trust between the person with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome and his or her family and the support worker was highlighted as being of prime importance to the entire process of support. When working with people with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome and their families, an ecological approach helps to clarify the social relationships and perspectives that shape perceptions of disability. Neo-liberal ideology and policy underpinned by a paradigm of corporatism were identified as major forces that influence the design and policies of services available to people with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome. For these reasons, free market policies are likely to increase the gaps in services for people with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome rather than narrow these gaps.