On the Actuality and Virtuality of Autistic Encounters: Respecting the Autistic Voice and Reimagining the Social

Abstract

Autism is a highly heterogeneous phenomenon. Not only is it difficult to understand the various and diverse aspects of autism, their relation to each other is also complex and still poorly understood. In my article, “Material encounters. A phenomenological account of social interaction in autism,” I have addressed this heterogeneity by presenting an understanding of how social features of autism (e.g., difficulties with social interaction) relate to behavioral features (e.g., preoccupation with objects). Straddling this divide between the social and the non-social that still pervades much thinking in philosophy, psychiatry, and psychology is crucial for understanding the diverse experiences of autistic persons and how social connectedness may emerge out of practices commonly regarded as asocial (Williams, Costall, & Reddy, 2018). Thus, my approach to autism has been one of questioning deep-rooted distinctions within the field. However, in their generous and perceptive commentaries, Lucy Osler and Derek Strijbos both draw attention to the importance of making certain distinctions, such as between the different forms of social engagement that different objects afford and between the differential contributions of the various dimensions of such objects.