Autism at school: from a stigmatizing social construction to the recognition as a human condition

Abstract

This theoretical article presents arguments to corroborate the recognition of autism as a human condition in opposition to how it is presented as a set of stigmatizing deficits. To this end, this article is supported by Hannah Arendt’s studies of the human condition and the extended thought; the appreciation of communication between differences and social justice that emerge from Iris Young’s work; the relational and humanizing perspective present in Paulo Freire’s work; and Temple Grandin’s understanding of autism from within. It is observed that putting into practice an educational listening, involved in understanding autism as a human condition, as much as the analysis – critical, constant and joint – of discourses that deny the ability of autistic people to equal participation in social, cultural and political life, can consolidate a true encounter, learning and human growth in plurality.