A network of expertise

Abstract

The article discusses an in-depth analysis of four assessment reports documenting the diagnostic procedure of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD henceforth) in pre-school-aged children in Sweden. Authored by professionals (child psychiatrists and child psychologists), the reports contain an account of different observations, interviews, and tests-results held throughout an ASD diagnostic procedure, as well as recommendations for treatments and interventions plan, and have a “mobile” function, meaning they reach other professionals and laypersons other than the child’s parents, making their influence long-lasting. The article’s overall aim is to demonstrate how professional knowledge is closely intertwined with parental knowledge, or parents’ unique “intimate expertise” (Lilley, 2011) in the written accounts making up the assessment reports, as professionals attempt to account for and establish an ASD diagnosis for a specific child. We conclude by arguing that such intertwined knowledge can be understood as materialization and an empirical demonstration of the network of autism expertise (Eyal, 2013), replacing previous historical forms of the appropriation of parental knowledge by professional actors during the procedure of ASD diagnosis in children (Eyal et al., 2010: 177).