A discourse analyst in the spectrum of autism treatments

Abstract

This article evinces discourse analysis as a possibility for the clinical care of children diagnosed with autism, which may seem contradictory given the known speech difficulties present in these cases. The conceptual field on which this discussion is based is the institutional analysis of discourse, starting from the assumption that a clinic is an institution where utterance and expectations shift between partners of the discursive scene, which is the context analyzed. The senses would also supposedly be part of the material context of such apparatus, which is, using Foucault’s thinking, considered a speech-act. From there arises the thesis that would allow reaching patients with autism: even though they do not speak, they take part in the session’s discourse, just as the therapist. Playing, consequently, will be considered a speech act: a procedure outlining places during the practice of utterance. Its therapeutic action is also discussed.