Abstract

INZUNZA ACEDO, Beatriz Elena; CORREA RECIO, Constanza; COS GULUARTE, Ana Carla  and  SALAZAR JAQUEZ, Debanhi. Social representations of autism by young mexican audiences. Cultura representaciones soc [online]. 2022, vol.16, n.32, e0001987.  Epub Apr 21, 2023. ISSN 2007-8110.

The role of fictional narratives in the conformation of social representations is fundamental when it comes to minorities such as neurodiverse individuals. The main objective was to identify the reception of these representations amongst neurotypical and neurodiverse audiences. This research explored, through mixed methods, representations in fictional characters (20 characters through content analysis), perceptions of neurotypical audiences about people with Autism or Asperger (surveys and discussion groups), and the validation of four individuals with Asperger (interviews). The main findings show that even though the representations are exaggerated, false and stereotypical, many of then have transcended to neurotypical audiences, which confirms what previous studies have found (Audley, 2020; Bie y Tang, 2015; Draaisma, 2009). Also, the majority of characters, even when there are symptoms that can be clearly associated with Autism or Asperger (Meeks, 2014), they don’t specify a diagnosis, which generates even more desinformation about these conditions. Participants with Asperger mentioned that only some elements of certain characters are adequate, but emphasized in the validation of Atypical as realistic.

Keywords : Social representations; Fiction; Autism; Asperger; Audiences.

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