Treatment for whom? Towards a phenomenological resolution of controversy within autism treatment
Abstract
Autism's mainstream, behavioural treatment has recently faced allegations from neurodiversity activists, who claim that behaviourism is methodologically faulted and in serious breach of patient consent and human rights. In the present paper, I delve into this mounting controversy to suggest, contra behaviourism, that people with autism diagnoses do not just display a divergent set of behaviours, but should be seen to operate in 'worlds' different to those in typical neurological conditions. To philosophically accommodate this difference in 'worlds' and to utilise it in thinking about treatment orientation, I use Edmund Husserl's concept of the life-world (lebenswelt). I proffer that the autistic life-worlds should be used as the basis of treatment evaluation. I suggest that phenomenological ways of approaching autism, currently understudied, should be further developed and that behavioural treatment should be accordingly 'filtered' to accommodate the autistic life-worlds, and with them certain criticisms from neurodiversity.
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Pantazakos (2019) develops the concept of the autistic 'life-world' as expressing a different structure to the neurotypical life-world in order to critique medicalized, behavioral understandings.
“Pantazakos (2019) develops the concept of the autistic “life-world” as expressing a different structure to the neurotypical life-world in order to critique medicalized, behavioral understandings”
From Neurodiversity, epistemic injustice, and the good human life (2022) · cites this paper as Pantazakos, 2019
Cites
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A comparison of intensive behavior analytic and eclectic treatments for young children with autism
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Neurodiversity, epistemic injustice, and the good human life
Chapman, R., & Carel, H. (2022) · Journal of Social Philosophy · doi:10.1111/josp.12456 · Cited by 231 · see citing works
Pantazakos, T., & Vanaken, G.-J. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1225152 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
“Related sources, affiliated with neurodiversity (Pantazakos, 2019) and beyond (Parnas et al., 2002; Turner-Brown et al., 2011), strongly argue that autism is a different mode of being in the world.”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citation
- Authors
- Pantazakos, T.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Pantazakos, Themistoklis
- Venue
- Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-10
- Volume
- 77
- Pages
- 101176
- ISSN
- 1369-8486 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2940436215
- Cited by
- 24
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 1.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Onassis Foundation
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Mental Health and Psychiatry
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, autism treatment, behavioral interventions, neurodiversity, Edmund Husserl, lifeworld, phenomenology, treatment evaluation, patient consent, human rights
- MeSH terms
- Autistic Disorder, Humans, Philosophy
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