Quirky Citizens:
Autism and the Anti-Normalization of Politics
In Western democracies, one of the greatest challenges to governance is the
growing number of persons who identify as members of minority groups and their
enlarged demands for services and access to full participation in society. Contemporary
theorists of democracy have articulated this problem in terms of multiculturalism, social
exclusion and participatory governance and focused attention on a variety of social
groups, including immigrants, historically oppressed minorities and the poor.
Increasingly, discussions about social exclusion and state dependency have turned to the
situation of disabled citizens. People with autism, a neurological disability with
consequences for social functioning, are a notable case of a group asserting its place in
democratic societies and making demands for inclusion.
While the number of people diagnosed with autism is small relative to other
disabilities (i.e., motor impairment) and oppressed political identities (i.e., displaced
persons), according to most reports of epidemiological data the number of children being
diagnosed with this disorder is rapidly escalating. Over the past thirty years the incident
rate of autism worldwide may have increased three to four times.
incidence of autism is most commonly seen as a public health crisis, it also has
implications for critical political theory; in particular, it presents questions about how
people with autism will participate, contribute to, and benefit from their membership in
communities and realize their promise as citizens.
As with other situations in which communities must deal with increased diversity
or the influx of new populations with high needs, the growing number of people with
autism creates a large demand for scarce resources and increases the potential for their
unequal distribution. As a stopgap measure, those most affected by autism are struggling
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Convention