Drawing a line in the sand

Affect and testimony in autism assessment teams in the UK

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2249695
AutoresJennie Hayes (0000-0002-5506-797X, College of Medicine and Health University of Exeter Exeter UK, autor correspondente), Rose Mccabe (0000-0003-2041-7383, School of Health Sciences, City University of London London UK), T Ford (0000-0001-5295-4904, Department of Psychiatry University of Cambridge Cambridge UK), Ginny Russell (0000-0002-6440-1167, Colleges of Medicine and Health/Social Sciences and International Studies University of Exeter Exeter UK)
Ano2020
Volume42
Fascículo4
Páginas825-843
Data de publicação2020-05-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSociology of Health & Illness (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0141-9889 • E-ISSN: 1467-9566
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-9566.13063
PMID32086837
OpenAlexW3008552212
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas63

Diagnosis of autism in the UK is generally made within a multidisciplinary team setting and is primarily based on observation and clinical interview. We examined how clinicians diagnose autism in practice by observing post-assessment meetings in specialist autism teams. Eighteen meetings across four teams based in the south of England and covering 88 cases were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. We drew out two themes, related to the way in which clinicians expressed their specialist disciplinary knowledge to come to diagnostic consensus: Feeling Autism in the Encounter; and Evaluating Testimonies of Non-present Actors. We show how clinicians produce objective accounts through their situated practices and perform diagnosis as an act of interpretation, affect and evaluation to meet the institutional demands of the diagnostic setting. Our study contributes to our understanding of how diagnosis is accomplished in practice

Affect (linguistics · Autism · Developmental psychology · Feeling · Interpretation (philosophy · Medical education · Multidisciplinary approach · Qualitative research · Situated · Social science · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Applied Psychology · Autism Spectrum Disorder Research · Communication · Computer Science · Genomics and Rare Diseases · Medicine · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Psychology · Social Psychology