Abstract
This thesis explores the various ways in which those phics. participating in the discussion of ''what is autism'' utilize rhetorical strategies to persuade a particular audience that their conception of autism is ''correct.'' The rhetors in the discussion align with two seemingly disparate approaches; the ''scientific'' represented by Bruno Bettelheim's The Empty Fortress, and the ''experiential'' represented by Clara Claiborne Park's The Siege, Jane Taylor McDonnell's News from the Border, and Temple Grandin's Emergence: Labeled Autistic The autism narratives compete on the basis of authority, ethos, and with what Perelman has called, presence: their ability to make their case through verbal magic alone. Bettelheim, unlike the personal narratives, intersperses his construction of autism with various ''scientific'' strategies in the attempt to invoke scientific authority. Hence, Bettelheim's The Empty Fortress is also analyzed through the frame of the rhetoric of science movement. The conclusion reached in this thesis is that when dealing with the maladies of the human condition, we cannot rely solely on scientific or experiential explanations. As a result, we need to stop deferring complete authority to science and science needs to understand and accept the authority and knowledge provided by those actually experiencing the disorder.
De Maria, Katherine Justine (1998). Figures of speech: the rhetorical construction of autism. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1998 -THESIS -D462.