The Ethos and Identity Formation of Autistic Writers: A Rhetorical Analysis of Online Advocacy Narratives
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)
Department
Literature and Languages
Date of Award
Summer 2015
Abstract
In this dissertation, I examine the persuasive strategies that advocacy groups, individual activists, and self-advocates use to establish ethos, or authority, on the subject of autism. Particularly, the purpose of this project is to examine how the words and symbols of online discourse impact the ethos of autistic citizens. A second objective of this project is to examine how autistic speakers and writers call upon rhetoric to argue for an understanding of autism that is different from or incompatible with mainstream or popular beliefs about the condition. I draw from critical discussions of ethos in both the classical and contemporary rhetorical traditions to inform my discussion of the challenges autistic rhetors face when attempting to define for themselves what autism means or what it means to be autistic.Without denying the neurobiological factors that play a role in determining what it means to be autistic, my aim is to investigate the ways in which the autistic subject is situated and positioned within cultural constructions of power. Rhetorical artifacts are collected from activism blogs and other autism discussion forums maintained online. I argue that the predominant cultural script of defectiveness in autism advocacy rhetoric casts individuals with autism as problems rather than problem-solvers, constructing their ethos as dismissible and their opinions unworthy of consideration.
Advisor
Donna Dunbar-Odom
Subject Categories
Arts and Humanities | English Language and Literature | Rhetoric and Composition
Recommended Citation
Brownsberger, Danielle, "The Ethos and Identity Formation of Autistic Writers: A Rhetorical Analysis of Online Advocacy Narratives" (2015). Electronic Theses & Dissertations. 691.
https://digitalcommons.tamuc.edu/etd/691
