Difference Versus Disability:Implications of Characterisation of Autism for Education and Support

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Milton, D. (2019). Difference Versus Disability:Implications of Characterisation of Autism for Education and Support. In The SAGE Handbook of Autism and Education (pp. 3-11). SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526470409.n2

Publication date: 1 Jan 2019 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Book chapter Article language: English
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1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. Damian Milton *

Abstract

For most of the twentieth century autism was considered to be an extremely rare disorder, affecting a tiny proportion of the population, however in recent decades the numbers of those diagnosed or self-identifying as autistic has risen exponentially, with estimated figures of more than 1 in 100 (Brugha, 2012). Autism has been variously described as everything from an evil spirit that robs parents of their children, to a differing cognitive style, or even a fundamental asset to human evolution. The spectrum of ways in which autistic people can present to educational and clinical practitioners is so myriad, that it may be little wonder that the ‘enigma’ (Frith, 1989) still evades simplistic descriptions, as scientists search in vain for what exactly autism is. Although various attempts have been made to categorise differing subgroups of the autism spectrum, e.g. ‘Asperger Syndrome’, ‘low-functioning autism’, ‘atypical autism’; it is highly questionable as to how accurately such distinctions can be made and how useful they are in practice.

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These indicators describe the cited bibliography imported for this publication. Cited-reference metrics use the cited-reference total as denominator. Cited-author metrics state whether they use all cited-author occurrences or only occurrences linked to authors already integrated in the AutiHub database. They use cached links between cited authors and authors integrated in the AutiHub database. Last computed: 16 Aug 2026 11:31.

Cited references
34
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
9 / 34 (26.5%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
11 / 56 (19.6%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 11 / 16 (68.8%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 5 / 50 (10.0%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
16 / 56 (28.6%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 10 / 50 (20.0%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
5 / 16 (31.2%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 5 / 56 (8.9%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 5 / 10 (50.0%).
1 cited bibliography entry could not be fully enriched from DOI metadata.
Crossref: not found (1)
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