Abstract
This chapter attempts to engage with the heterogeneity of the disability experience by foregrounding the lived experiences and subjectivities of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caregivers. Specifically, it takes up for examination the diagnostic category of autism and its location at the intersections of biology and culture. The chapter attempts to map cultural and contextual understandings of disability and the impact of globalization and information flows on shaping these understandings. It argues for an appreciation of different ways of being in the world and the webs of mutual dependence and care in which we are all implicated. In this context, it examines the role of family driven NGOs and presents a case study of Action for Autism, an NGO in Delhi. The “right to be different” is a fundamental aspect of the plurality and diversity of the world in which we live.
The discussions in this chapter are included in the author’s book “Autism and the Family in Urban India: Looking Back, Looking Forward” ( S.Vaidya, Springer, 2017).
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Vaidya, S. (2016). The Right to Be Different: Autism and Advocacy in Urban India. In: Ghosh, N. (eds) Interrogating Disability in India. Dynamics of Asian Development. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3595-8_6
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