classics

Helping those in need

Visit Site

MP3 Audio Sample

rating
 
 
goodreads logo

Short Synopsis
A comprehensive introduction to the concept of the "intact mind" and how it affects disability policy and practice.

Full Synopsis
The concept of the intact mind, first described in a 2006 memoir, refers to the idea that inside every autistic child is an intelligent, typical child waiting to be liberated by the right diet, the right treatment intervention, the right combination of supports and accommodations. The sentiment itself is not new. Though the idea gives hope to parents devastated by a child's diagnosis, Amy Lutz argues that it has also contributed to widespread dismantling of services badly needed by severely disabled children and their families.

In Chasing the Intact Mind, Lutz traces the history of the intact mind concept, explaining how it influences current policy and practice affecting those with autism. Lutz provides a historical analysis of the intact mind narrative and describes how the concept—originally unique to autism—has come to inform current debates at the heart of intellectual and developmental disability practice and policy in the United States. Lutz argues that focusing on the intact mind and marginalizing those with severe disability reproduces historic patterns of discrimination that yoked human worth to intelligence, and that it is only by making space for the impaired mind that we will be able to resolve these ongoing clashes—as well as even larger questions of personhood, dependency, and care.

Chasing the Intact Mind

How the Severely Autistic and Intellectually Disabled Were Excluded from the Debates That Affect Them Most

Author Amy S.F. Lutz

Narrated by Suzie Althens

Publication date Nov 21, 2023

Running time 7 hrs

Available Formats

Suggestions?
Let us know!