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Chasing the Intact Mind: How the Severely Autistic and Intellectually Disabled Were Excluded from the Debates That Affect Them Most
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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. Emerging largely out of psychoanalytic theory dating back to the end of the 19th century, the intact mind was later amplified in memoirs, where parents wrote of their tireless efforts to free their children from the grip of autism. 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, including battles over sheltered workshops, legal guardianship, and facilitated communication. 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.
- ISBN-100197683843
- ISBN-13978-0197683842
- PublisherOxford University Press
- Publication dateOctober 3, 2023
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions9.53 x 0.84 x 6.45 inches
- Print length192 pages
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- Publisher : Oxford University Press (October 3, 2023)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 192 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0197683843
- ISBN-13 : 978-0197683842
- Item Weight : 14.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 9.53 x 0.84 x 6.45 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #399,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #388 in History of Medicine (Books)
- #495 in Children's Autism Spectrum
- #749 in Parenting Books on Children with Disabilities
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About the author

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Customers find the book interesting and informative. They describe it as well-researched, scholarly, and important. The writing quality is also praised.
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Customers find the book engaging and informative. They consider it an important read.
"A thoroughly researched, scholarly and important book that probes many ways modern policy denies the reality of the impaired mind and functional..." Read more
"...A deeply informative read." Read more
"...Despite these minor problems, the book was an interesting read and gives a good synopsis of the problems facing children with severe developmental..." Read more
"A beautifully written and thoroughly engaging book: I couldn't put it down...." Read more
Customers find the book well-researched and informative. They say it provides a good synopsis of the problems faced.
"So informative and well written! Highly recommend" Read more
"A thoroughly researched, scholarly and important book that probes many ways modern policy denies the reality of the impaired mind and functional..." Read more
"...Using case studies, granular research and history, she brilliantly exposes what can only be described as "ablesim" in reverse ~ that the "key" to..." Read more
"...these minor problems, the book was an interesting read and gives a good synopsis of the problems facing children with severe developmental..." Read more
Customers find the book well-written.
"So informative and well written! Highly recommend" Read more
"...A timely and beautifully written consideration of feel-good trends that threaten the very real needs those disabled by impaired minds." Read more
"A beautifully written and thoroughly engaging book: I couldn't put it down...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2024So informative and well written! Highly recommend
- Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2023A thoroughly researched, scholarly and important book that probes many ways modern policy denies the reality of the impaired mind and functional impact of severe autism, with dire consequences for our most vulnerable citizens. As autism rates surge, we witness a weakening of the supports available. Why? In part, a collective fantasy of “the intact mind” that does not reflect anything measurably or observably or biologically true about severe autism and IDD. After a survey of parent memoirs, the book turns to three examples of how the notion of “intact mind” subverts actual needs of the severely disabled—the attack on subminimum wage employment; the attack on legal guardianship; and the rise of pseudoscientific facilitated communication. A timely and beautifully written consideration of feel-good trends that threaten the very real needs those disabled by impaired minds.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2023Dr. Lutz has unearthed an astounding amount of evidence to support her assertions regarding how the autistic mind does, and doesn't, behave. Using case studies, granular research and history, she brilliantly exposes what can only be described as "ablesim" in reverse ~ that the "key" to unlocking the communicative barriers our autistic children face is itself a prejudiced assumption that autism can be easily or directly decoded if only society engages in necessary (often unproven) interventions. Underpinning this insistence is the belief that the intrinsic worth of a profoundly disabled child turns on him/her having a fundamentally "intact mind," which Lutz argues is not only demonstrably untrue but devalues the disabled mind as inherently inferior. I highly recommend this book to clinicians, parents and siblings of autistic children to challenge current trends about whether autism in its most severe form can genuinely be treated as "differently abled," what it means to prove the authenticity of independent communication and, most crucially, what we are saying to and about our children who "fail" to meet the litmus tests of "intact mind" beneath the serious brain disorder which is autism. A deeply informative read.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2023This book was written in a rather pedantic tone, making the read somewhat challenging. The author seems fond of using the word "Interlocutor" for some reason (seems like more than a dozen or two times). Despite these minor problems, the book was an interesting read and gives a good synopsis of the problems facing children with severe developmental disabilities and their families. The issues discuss include subminimum wage employment and the laws covering this, conservatorships, and the very hot topic of facilitated communication. The book is clearly well-researched as the author provides a great deal of documentation of the facts in copious end notes.
Of particular interest (at least to me) the author takes the neurodiversity movement to task and all the problems with their positions on some issues.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2023A beautifully written and thoroughly engaging book: I couldn't put it down. As an autistic self-advocate who is verbal and doesn't have an intellectual disability, I appreciated getting the perspective of someone living with a more severe form of the condition. That the perspective was that of a parent didn't make it any less valuable. I see no contradiction in endorsing this book and continuing to support neurodiversity. Both affirm the intrinsic worth of each person regardless of how their brain functions or whether they have an intact mind.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2024This book clearly articulates the need for acceptance and concern for the entire span of challenges experienced within autism and cognitive impairment. Options must be kept open to support at all levels, and that care will look very different depending on the individual.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2024A good piece of scholarship, and an easy read. Dr. Lutz uses evidence based data and and research with real sources to expose how cognitively impaired Americans are having supports removed because of the myth they are secretly capable.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2023This is a comprehensive look at the history of optimistic narratives of cognitive disability, particularly autism. and how those dealing with individuals so afflicted can be seduced by these narratives to make sense of the abyss they find themselves staring into. Highly recommend.
Top reviews from other countries
- FrancescaReviewed in the United Kingdom on April 22, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars a scholarly account of still current issues
The author provides a thorough historical account of the emergence of the romanticised intact mind and its potential dangers when it comes to providing dignified ethical support to those with cognitive impairments and intellectual disabilities in today’s care and educational system.