Cartographies of Difference: shifting the Diagnosis of Autism with Fernand Deligny

Abstract

This article proposes a critique of the biomedical framing of autism, showing how diagnostic criteria produce narratives of inadequacy and reinforce normative patterns that reduce difference to deficit. Based on the work of Fernand Deligny, a conceptual alternative is developed that understands autism as a mode of existence endowed with its own normativity, expressed in gestures, paths, and rhythms that do not conform to the model of typical sociability. This approach highlights the importance of environments that welcome different ways of inhabiting the world, shifting the focus from individual adaptation to the construction of spaces for coexistence. Finally, the text argues that public 

policies inspired by Deligny can broaden the guarantee of rights, recognizing the plurality of life forms and promoting care practices based on coexistence, not normalization