Presuming Competence

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

About the autistic author marker

Biklen, D. & Burke, J. (2017). Presuming Competence. In Beginning with Disability (pp. 263-282). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315453217-34

Publication date: 20 Sep 2017 Added to AutiHub: 10 Sep 2026 Type: Book chapter Article language: English

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Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 2 (50.0%)

Abstract

The tradition in American education to assume incompetence of students who have severe communication impairments extends beyond autism, and includes those with other developmental disabilities, such as Down syndrome, Rett syndrome, Cri-Du-Chat, and others. Schools are the site where labeling most often occurs. Then, once labeled, students are routinely expected to prove that they can benefit from inclusive, academic instruction in order to be maintained in the regular class, often with supportive and specialized services. When a student has difficulties with speech, as the second author did when he first entered school, teachers cannot know what the student is thinking. This is a situation that demands a kind of compact between teacher and student to choose the most optimistic stance possible, what people have called "presuming competence", within which to effect inclusive education. As it turns out, during his earliest years of being included, Burke understood far more than he was able to express.

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 12 Sep 2026 01:05.

Cited references
1
With a DOI
0
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
1
0 / 1 (0.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
1 / 1 (100.0%)
References with detected author names
0 / 1 (0.0%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
1
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1
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1
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0
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From DOI or external metadata
0
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0
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0
Raw names still to review
1
No author names are currently detected in the imported cited bibliography.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
0 / 0 (0.0%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. No detected author names are currently linked to an author already present in AutiHub. Distinct people identified as autistic: 0 / 0 (0.0%).
  1. American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
    Type: Other
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