Autism, Body and Space

How teachers’ ability expectations performatively shape and contain the autistic body in school spaces

Autor/innen

  • Ann-Marie Restayn Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg
  • Allison Moore Edge Hill University
  • Andreas Köpfer Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg

Schlagwörter:

autism, space, academic expectations, civilization process, teachers' diagnostic practices, body

Abstract

This paper deals with the question of how autism is dealt with in and by schools – especially with regard to the claim of (spatial) participation. Based on empirical research, the article examines how teacher expectations of abilities and (learning) behaviour are incorporated and relationally form bodily images of ‘autism’ contrasting the ‘normal’ child in and through school spaces. This eventually results in spatial arrangements. Interview data with teachers from elementary schools in South Germany was gathered and analysed regarding the research question: how are “autistic bodies” narrated by teachers in school and what spatial arrangements are evoked by this? We discuss our findings with reference to Norbert Elias’ works on the process of civilization and Pierre Bourdieu’s understanding of space and the body. We show how, in highly regulated educational organisations such as schools, the “unruly autistic body” is shaped in relation to spatially prefigured behavioural expectations and how a perceived lack of the ‘right (neurotypical) bodily hexis’ of autistic students lead to spatial exclusion and a withdrawal of academic expectations. Turning back to the educational discourse on autism, we propose a paradigm shift regarding teachers’ diagnostic practices.

Autor/innen-Biografien

  • Ann-Marie Restayn, Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg

    Restayn, Ann-Marie, Special Education Teacher, Lecturer at the University of Education Freiburg, Department of Education, Kunzenweg 21, 79117 Freiburg

  • Allison Moore, Edge Hill University

    Dr. Allison Moore, Reader in Sociology and Programme Leader for the Masters in Social Sciences (Critical Autism Studies), Edge Hill University, History, Geography & Social Sciences, St Helens Road, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L39 4QP United Kingdom

  • Andreas Köpfer, Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg

    Prof. Dr. Köpfer, Andreas, Professor for Research in Inclusive Education, University of Education Freiburg, Department of Education, Kunzenweg 21, 79117 Freiburg

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Veröffentlicht

16.07.2024

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Rubrik

Artikel der Gastherausgeber*innenschaft

Zitationsvorschlag

Restayn, A.-M., Moore, A., & Köpfer, A. (2024). Autism, Body and Space: How teachers’ ability expectations performatively shape and contain the autistic body in school spaces. Zeitschrift für Inklusion, 19(2), 37-55. https://www.inklusion-online.net/index.php/inklusion-online/article/view/740