The Deficit View and Its Critics

“that someone ought to have, an undesirable individual experience (Dinishak, 2016; Robertson, 2010).”

“being unduly reified as being natural (Dinishak, 2016).”

“Sometimes the deficit is blamed on a group’s genes or brains and sometimes on their family background or “cultural deprivation” (Dinishak, 2016; Dudley-Marling, 2007; García-Coll et al., 1996; Miller & Sperry, 2012; Valencia & Black, 2002).”

“A deficit lens describes a group of people or a place only in terms of deficiencies, failure, problems, limitations, and negativity (31, 41).”

“Centering injustice in this review could reduce people to the issues they face, leading future researchers into the trap of the deficit view [49, 168] or damage-centered design [183, 198].”

“Beyond the harm that a deficit view may inflict on individuals deemed deficient or lacking, some scholars suggest that an overemphasis on deficits and the medicalization of neurodiversity may in fact limit our ability to make scientific progress toward understanding neurodiverse conditions as a key part of our full hu…”

“Basing comparisons on the cultural perspectives of a single dominant group leads to “differences” being interpreted as “deficits,” which risks dehumanizing people in the marginalized groups (Dinishak, 2016).”

“It is important to recognise that the experience of ADHD (indeed neurodiversity and other differences generally), should not be discussed solely in terms of the limitations imposed by a deficit model (Dinishak, 2016).”

“Criticism of the deficit approach to human behaviour has gained traction over several decades in fields including psychiatry, linguistics, education, disability studies and justice (Dinishak, 2016) with recent interest frommarketing (Raciti et al., 2022).”

“Several environmental and biological hypotheses on the etiology of TGM have been proposed throughout history (Ettner, 2020), but many of these hypotheses have been challenged (cf. Lair 2016; Auer et al., 2016; Fuss et al., 2013).”

“Deficit models in general focus only, or primarily, on perceived deficiencies and/or limitations of individuals and groups (Akhtar and Jaswal 2013; Dinishak 2016) and generally advocate for “correcting” behavioral differences so that autistic people are indistinguishable from non-autistic people…”

“This is in contrast to a deficit-based approach, which focuses on the perceived weaknesses or shortcomings of an individual (Dinishak, 2016).”

“…to detect an empathy deficit are unreliable and insufficiently validated (Fletcher-Watson and Bird, 2020; Harrison et al., 2022; Milton et al., 2019) and that deficit-based understandings of autism are inherently stigmatizing and impede scientific understanding of autism (e.g. Dinishak, 2016).”

“…02/25/22 12:15 AM UTC deficit-based framework, where the uneven development of abilities is perceived as dysfunctional and/or problematic (Dinishak, 2016; Lester et al., 2014), often resulting in stigmatization and social exclusion (Buchanan et al., 2017; Must et al., 2015; Obrusnikova…”

“64,65”

“Associating autism as a deficit has been shown to distract from a greater understanding of the condition (Dinishak, 2016).”

“On a related note, as members of a consortium that coproduces mental health research in sub-Saharan Africa, we wish to preface this critical review by expressing our discomfort with the overuse of deficit-based language in the mental health literature [38].”

“Research on self-advocacy is frequently situated within a deficit framework (Dinishak, 2016), which argues that students frequently lack self-advocacy skills and require differentiated and remedial coaching by disability services professionals in order to be successful (Stamp et al., 2014; Vaccaro…”

“Conventional autism research has long been rooted in approaches and frameworks that pathologize Autistic people, rather than emphasize their strengths and lived experiences (Chapman & Carel, 2022; Dinishak, 2022).”

“…books” (McLaughlin, 2020).4 Both IDEA and Section 504 use a deficit frame, as opposed to a neurodiversity frame (Understood For All Inc., 2021), that defines our children by what they cannot achieve compared to their typically developing peers (Dinishak, 2016; Harry and Klinger, 2007; Perry, 2021).”

“One dominant perspective frames autism in terms of deficits in need of correction and views specific behaviors as “symptoms” (Dinishak, 2016).”

“These approaches not only undermine a child’s self-perceptions and confidence [27], but also hinder educational research and practice, leading to constrained development of theory and educational methods [23], and blind spots in our philosophical and theoretical understandings of the phenomenon of disability [28].”

“The key point here is that such understanding of the scope of rehabilitation arises from the common portrayal of disability as a deficit to repair [6] by returning to, and maintaining, baseline levels of functioning to the greatest extent possible.”

“…confront, challenge, and modify the deficit approach by which disabled people are seen and met in ways that diminish their life chances and humanity, a dominant perception of disability still emerges from an ableist understanding embedded in the wider society and its organisations (Dinishak 2016).”

“This reflects the sustained preference for deficit-based health research, which tends to pathologize racially marginalized persons and blame them for their heightened susceptibility to, in this case, mental health issues [73, 74].”

“따라서 발달성 난독 아동 개인의 강 점과 약점에 근거한 개별화된 읽기 중재가 반드시 필요하다(Dinishak, 2016; Kim & Jung, 2019; Lyon et al., 2003; Pae et al., 2016; Won et al., 2020; Yang & Pae, 2018).”

“…risks associated with ID, these observations also contribute to reinforce the deficit model that has long prevailed in ID research, focusing on problems, costs, and risks (e.g., Maulik et al., 2011), while ignoring strengths, benefits, and resilience (e.g., d’Amato et al., 2005 ; Dinishak 2016).”

“…disability or difference has resulted in a deficit-focused narrative around autism as the difficulties are located within autistic people and the onus is on them to change to fit into their environment rather than the other way around (Dinishak, 2016; Milton, 2014; Pellicano & den Houting, 2022).”

“…disagreements are present can be found in the field of mental health (Gergen, 1990, 1994), in the field of education (Harry and Klingner, 2007), disability studies (Dinishak, 2016), innovation studies (Pfotenhauer et al., 2019), and in social inclusion studies (Nols et al., 2017), among others.”

“Moreover, acknowledging the potential strengths of autistic adults reflects the population’s diversity and is necessary to advance scientific progress toward achieving a comprehensive understanding of deception in autism (Dinishak, 2022).”

“Most of the research has been carried out by neurotypical people and there has been a focus on changing autistic people’s deficits [14] rather than the social, attitudinal, and infrastructural barriers that exclude them.”

“Reliance upon the de fi cit model results in pathologizing students, language, families, and culture (Cochran-Smith & Dudley-Marling, 2012), and diminishes an individual ’ s humanity (Dinishak, 2016).”

“…are designed to be positive and forward thinking, while challenging the notion that disability is considered a deficiency or problem that needs to be fixed, rather than an opportunity to improve the status quo of a normative-designed instructional environment (Dinishak, 2016; Judge, 2018).”

“A strength-based intervention attempts to harness the strengths of an individual on the spectrum in treatment (13, 14, 19, 21).”

“Deficit views have been challenged by scholars, as seen in recent research on SLDs (e.g., Adiredja, 2019; Dinishak, 2016; Lewis & Lynn, 2018; Rappolt-Schlichtmann et al., 2018; Yeh et al., 2020).”

“Several bodies of research on FG students and professionals presented a deficit-based approach focusing on what they lack, thereby adding to the complexity of the first-generation identity (Dinishak, 2016; Gibbons et al., 2019).”

“Therefore, this research used critical reflection as a counter-hegemonic approach to the medical paradigms that are predominant within existing understanding of neurodiversity (Dinishak, 2016).”

“However, challenges faced by individuals with autism are often a result of a lack of societal inclusion and equity rather than a personal deficit (Dinishak, 2016).”

“Yapa and barnighausen (2018) have argued for the use of Implementation Science in Global South settings such as Indonesia, suggesting that focussing efforts in the South is more important than in Global North settings, due to the need for translating research to benefit the largest possible number of people. below, we…”

“During the 1960s, research shifted towards understanding autism as having biological and neurological causes [71–73] and more recently, the “deficit” view of autism has been challenged [74,75].”

“…Problem emphasizes that both autistic and non-autistic people bring their own cultural assumptions, expectations, and communicative norms to an interaction—and that breakdowns occur because these norms differ, not because one party is inherently impaired (Chown 2014; Dinishak 2016; Milton 2012).”

“Accordingly, the medical paradigm continues generating most autism discourses (Bottini et al., 2023; Dinishak, 2016; Kapp et al., 2013; Pellicano & Houting, 2022).”

“…conditions have emphasised the need to integrate strengths-based approaches to clinical assessments and diagnostic narratives (Boulton, Hodge, Levu, et al., 2023; Braun et al., 2017; Dinishak, 2016; Fitzpatrick et al., 2024; Munro et al., 2023; Rutherford et al., 2021; Whitehouse et al., 2018).”

“This “deficit” perspective on autism has faced challenges [77,78].”

“There are many instances of differences that are interpreted as deficits, even when behavioral results do not support this conclusion (Dinishak, 2016).”

“…it focuses primarily on what is ‘lacking’ and omits strengths and capacities, as well as potential advantages that may arise from perceived ‘deficits’ (Dinishak 2016). in line with a goal-based approach (Perry 2021; Steele Gray et al. 2020), a humanistic approach does not downplay need, rather it…”

“For example, previous research has tended to focus on core individual traits, characteristics, or abilities that place neurodivergent individuals at risk of poor outcomes, while clinical practice has tended to focus interventions on individual abilities, such as emotion regulation 34,35 .”

“Addressing disparities in postsecondary outcomes for autistic young adults requires improving degree completion rates and confronting systemic inequities that shape their experiences (Dinishak, 2016).”

“…et al., 2006), for example, is not taken as evidence that Chinese preschoolers are “impaired” in their development, but the same respect is not typically paid to autistic culture, or disability culture more broadly (though see, e.g., Akhtar & Jaswal, 2013; Baron-Cohen, 2017; Dinishak, 2016).”

“This deficit model of inclusion, a form of ableism,2 is condescending toward individuals with disabilities and assumes less of their abilities and human qualities (Dinishak, 2016).”

“Dinishak 2016) palvelujen käyttäjät nähdään passiivisina kohteina ja palveluntarjoajan tehtäväksi jää puutteen poistaminen.”

“Nor did it address the concerns raised by Dinishak (2016) about the concept of disability creating a standardised human mould, that workers may endeavour to force people into.”

“body rocking, flapping, echolalia) (Dinishak, 2016).”