Children, education and adult dreams in times of autism

Abstract

The contemporary pedagogical imaginary is structured around a character called autistic. It is a fictional being that should not be confused with any particular autistic child. This allows us to affirm that we live in times of autism that entail an impoverishment of everyday life with the children of flesh and blood. Although the pathogenic nature of this educational impoverishment cannot be affirmed in the manner of a virus or according to the classical deterministic logic "cause-effect", we propose to think of the present imaginary as a kind of breeding ground within which each child confronts the challenge of conquering by him or herself and for him or herself a place of speech in a history somewhat open to the future. The child may become the victim of an educational misunderstanding and thus become somewhat adrift in the world. Perhaps, as this cannot be known, more than one autistic child is witnessing to such misfortune.