A mismatch of salience: explorations of the nature of autism from theory to practice

Part one: This thing called autism - So what exactly is autism? - `Problems in living' and the mental well-being of autistic people - Natures answer to over-conformity: a deconstruction of pathological demand avoidance - Impaired compared to what? Embodiment and diversity - Part two: A mismatch of salience - On the Ontological Status of Autism: the `Double Empathy Problem' - Embodied sociality and the conditioned relativism of dispositional diversity - Autistic expertise: a critical reflection on the production of knowledge in autism studies - Part three: From theory to practice - `Filling in the gaps', a micro-sociological analysis of autism - So what exactly are autism interventions intervening with? - Tracing the influence of Fernand Deligny on autism studies - 7 concepts of sociological interest - Part four: Participation - Autistics speak but are they heard? - Moments in time - Aut-ethnography: working from the inside out - How is a sense of well-being and belonging constructed in the accounts of autistic adults? - Educational discourse and the autistic student: a study using Q-sort methodology (thesis summary)

A Mismatch of Salience brings together a range of Damian Milton&;s writings that span more than a decade. The book explores the communication and understanding difficulties that can create barriers between people on the autism spectrum and neurotypical people. It celebrates diversity in communication styles and human experience by re framing the view that autistic people represent a &;disordered other&; not as an impairment, but a two-way mismatch of salience. It also looks at how our current knowledge has been created by non-autistic people on the &;outside&;, looking in. A Mismatch of Salience attempts to redress this balance.