How Indigenous Cultures Highlight Alternative Understandings of Autism
A universal and limited understanding of Autistic experience, from a European author. This image is widely shared on social media in the U.S., Canada, and much of the English speaking nations.
The quote referenced above is accurate to a point. This short blog aims not to attack its central claim but to highlight that it holds a perspective that lacks cultural humility and nuance. In recent years, there has been increasing exposure to what it means to be Autistic from the perspectives of Autistic people. These narratives and voices have helped to offset the shame and sterile effect that a mostly medicalized discourse about Autism has had in the minds of Allistic (non-autistic) people. This is a positive in my view.
At the same time, there continues to be a limiting of our imagination and what we envision Autism to be like. Because an overwhelming majority of the voices posting and articulating their experience living as an Autistic person have been English speakers and Europeans located within the “Global North,” we have found ourselves wrapped within the confines of European overcultural understandings of Autism. The quote above is one such example. Implicit within its claim is the notion of an “essential” or universal experience shared by all Autistic people. Universalism is a characteristic of European thought and behavior, as argued by sociologist Marimba Ani and her non-European colleagues.
Te Reo Māori boy
In many cultures around the world (past and present), including many African, Indigenous, and Oceanic communities, Autism is not stigmatized but appreciated and accepted. In these collectivist cultures, neurological difference is not necessarily understood as a deficit. Much has been written about how the Māori of Aotearoa “New Zealand” understand Autism. The term “Takiwātanga” is one of the Te Reo Māori words for Autism, which roughly translates to “in his/her/their own space and time. “ Takiwātanga reflects a value-neutral understanding of Autism, in contrast to a deficit-based view common in the West. I saw this firsthand during a visit to Aotearoa, where I spoke with an Autistic Māori elder on Kapiti Island in 2023. Indigenous elders are reservoirs of knowledge and resistance.
I think that there is a tendency for people in the West not to question or even notice how the landscape that we traverse shapes our experience. This lack of material analysis and understanding limits our capacity to accurately describe our lives and the forces that influence us. Too often, we in the West try to find an essential element that is universal across all lived experiences—but this doesn’t exist. We Westerners also tend to believe that we are the height of civilization, a falsehood that frames our Western culture as natural, normal, and necessary for human development. This phenomenon helps facilitate the idea that to be Autistic is to be misunderstood, maligned, and traumatized. This is not a fact. Being Autistic is not universally disabling. Our environments make Autism disabling.
