Pædagogisk arbejde med børn med autisme

Working with autistic children, and studying psychology made the author wonder abt. the terms used to describe autism and their consequences. Adhering to Burman's definition of deconstruction (1994), he discusses the problem of trying to understand the development of the autistic child, using concepts from traditional, stage focused theories of development such as that of Piaget and Leslie's »Theory of Mind«. The heavy emphasis on cognition is discussed and other venues of understanding are presented. Billington (2000) and Meyer (2003) maintain that autism is better understood as either disturbed emotions or disturbed senses. He finally claims that meta- theoretical considerations should be seen as prerequisites for developmental psychology.