The textbook defines stigmatization as “labeling someone as being deviant, different, or flawed in some way” (Gruman 2016, 335). Stigma involves ignorance, prejudice, and discrimination, and unfortunately, many Autistic people are labeled in exactly the ways described by the textbook (I can personally attest to this). The stigma attached to Autism is also “primarily influenced by a public and professional understanding of autism in combination with interpretation of visible autistic traits” (Turnock A, Langley K, Jones CRG., 2022). Finally, stigma has been shown to reduce the wellbeing of Autistic people (Turnock A, Langley K, Jones CRG., 2022), and causes Autistic people to do something called “masking.” This is when we behave in a way that people in society would accept. In other words, many autistic people attempt to hide autistic traits “to try and appear more neurotypical and better manage social situations” (Turnock A, Langley K, Jones CRG., 2022). Thus, stigma is bad, and it should be reduced to a point where it is non-existent, or at least no longer an issue. In the rest of this post, I would like to highlight some ways that society can reduce stigma.
The first way to reduce stigma and its impacts could be to create Autism friendly spaces, where there is a public space with appropriate lighting, noise level, and with good predictability. This may increase feelings of inclusivity in a school environment that often is otherwise not as conducive for Autistic people. Such a shared space could also increase interactions between Autistic people and neuro-typical people, since the former group would be able to more easily step their foot in the door of the larger community.
One problem that has led to the stigmatization of Autistic people is the media. As the textbook points out, “with regard to mental illness, we find that television and movie portrayals frequently tend to be negative and unflattering toward people associated with psychiatric labels” (p. 337). If we improve the presentation of Autism in the media by increasing positive representation in said media, especially in movies, shows, etc., then this could reduce stigma towards Autism at a societal level (Turnock A, Langley K, Jones CRG., 2022).
Another way to reduce stigma towards Autism is education. Recently, a study was done where the researchers showed young neurotypical males a video of Autism acceptance, and then paired them with an Autistic social partner to have a conversation (Jones DR, et al. 2021). The control group was paired without watching the video. The results showed that, in the experimental group, both the Autistic and neurotypical partner reported more interest in conversating than the control group. While this video didn’t seem to completely erase stigmatizing views in the study, it seemed to decrease them. How much more impact would such education have on a grander scale? I think it would have lots of positive impact.
Finally, the neurodiversity movement, a movement started by Autistic people (though has been adopted by other neurodivergents), has helped reshape how society has viewed Autism to a degree thus far, and could continue to do so. The neurodiversity movement argues that Autism is an identity, and celebrates the differences we bring to society, just like with other social struggles currently facing us today (e.g., with race, sexuality, etcetera). In short, there is a very long way to go in reducing stigma, but research has highlighted several ways that this can be done in the near future.
Sources = Turnock A, Langley K, Jones CRG. (2022). Understanding Stigma in Autism: A Narrative Review and Theoretical Model. Autism Adulthood. 4(1):76-91.
Jones DR, Morrison KE, DeBrabander KM, Ackerman RA, Pinkham AE, Sasson NJ. (2021). Greater social interest between autistic and non-autistic conversation partners following autism acceptance training for non-autistic people. Front Psychol.
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.