Understanding autistic students’ relationships at school: a dialogical perspective on the development of the self

Abstract

Abstract This study mainly aimed to investigate how the relationships established at school affect the constitution of the self of autistic subjects. We carried out a multiple case study with children aged from seven to 14 years old enrolled in a public school that featured diverse profiles, with a total of 11 participants, such as teachers, coordinator, special education assistant (all of them women), as well as five autistic children (three boys and two girls) and two non-autistic girls. During the 6-month period, we conducted interviews with the adults, natural observations of school situations, and collaborative dynamics with the participating children. In light of theories from a dialogical-cultural perspective, it was possible to analyze our findings based on an I-positions framework, self positions, for each participant subject. From the convergence of each of the possible positions of all the subjects, we arrived at three axes of relationship: Playing, Helping, and Caring.

Keywords

• inclusive education
• autism
• cultural psychology
• dialogical self