First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is: whither identity?

Authors

Abstract

Autism is typically contained within the subset of neurodiversity, a term which originated within the discourse of autistic people’s quest for alternative identity. Nothing arises or is identified without a need for it to be identified, and autism has been a fluid concept despite the attempts of the establishment to root it in science as a ‘natural kind’ and objective disorder. The genie, however, is out of the bottle and autistic people have shown themselves capable of engaging with the concept at an ideological and a material level (science) to the extent that new meanings have been generated both within autistic communities and outside. Autism is shifting from predominantly being conceived as a disorder towards becoming an identity, leading to the contemporary critical discourse. As one who has found the identity to be useful, I consider whether the identity is in any sense real or just a necessary phase in establishing who one is without the need for it.

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