Missing voices: representations of autism in British newspapers, 1999–2008

Abstract

Accessible summary This study examines how autism is portrayed in newspapers in the United Kingdom. The findings indicate that many of the stories about autism are not based on interviews with individuals with autism. Newspaper accounts tend to focus on stories about children with autism, rather than on adults. SummaryPast research indicates that newspaper representations of developmental disability reinforce negative stereotypes. The aim of this study was to examine depictions of autism in British newspapers. A qualitative content and discourse analysis of newspaper accounts of autism was conducted over four 1‐month time points, every 3 years, between May 1999 and May 2008. The analysis indicated that conceptualisations of autism could be categorised under three themes: missing voices; the burden of autism; and, sensationalising, misconceptions and misuse of a label. Autism was also portrayed in a standardised and homogenised way that failed to recognise human diversity, and the focus predominated on childhood and third‐hand accounts of autism.