With love and tenderness: infantilization of the autistic person in the speeches for the promulgation of Law 21.545 in Chile

Abstract

The increasing awareness of access and participation barriers for autistic people has led to growing attention in the legislative and social spheres. Chile has recently approved the Autism Law (Law No. 21,545), which grants social, health and educational rights to autistic people. The objective of this study was to understand how the autistic subject is constructed in the political discourse surrounding the enactment of this law. Using analytical techniques of critical discursive psychology, the body of Law 21,545 was analyzed, as well as the speeches of the President of Chile and the president of a group of autistic people, who could represent the executive branch and social movements, respectively. The results reveal interpretative repertoires that legitimize pathological and tragic discourses around autism, discourses of care that infantilize the population from a perspective of needs, and compassionate discourses based on a rhetoric of affection. These discourses form an affective-discursive canon that contributes to constructing the identity of the infantilized and needy autistic subject, straining their recognition as full subjects in society. The implications of these results for the development of social inclusion policies are discussed.

Keywords: autism, law, Chile, discourse analysis