Gender and family-role portrayals of autism in British newspapers: An intersectional corpus-based study / Themis KARAMINIS in Autism, 29-5 (May 2025)  

Public ISBD [article]  inAutism > 29-5 (May 2025) . - p.1285-1302 Titre : Gender and family-role portrayals of autism in British newspapers: An intersectional corpus-based study Type de document : Texte imprimé et/ou numérique Auteurs : Themis KARAMINIS, Auteur ; Costas GABRIELATOS, Auteur ; Ursula MADEN-WEINBERGER, Auteur ; Geoffrey BEATTIE, Auteur Article en page(s) : p.1285-1302 Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : autism  family  gender  newspapers  stereotypes  stigma Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : A recent large-scale study on the portrayal of autism in British newspapers revealed a deficit-based coverage, which concentrated on children and boys in particular, typically represented from the mothers' perspective. This follow-up study refines these representations, considering how they differ by gender and family role. We analysed 2998 text samples, which discussed autism in the context of four combinations of gender and family roles, namely, BOY, GIRL, FATHER and MOTHER. These samples included sources with different publication dates, reporting style and political orientation. Autism representations remained negative regardless of gender and family role. Over time, stories about autistic girls started to emerge, identifying them as a distinct group explicitly compared to autistic boys. Newspapers, especially broadsheets, associated girls with diagnostic difficulties, camouflaging and sometimes gender dysphoria ? discussed particularly for those assigned female at birth. The child?s autism was more often attributed to maternal than paternal behaviours or lifestyle. Autistic mothers were mentioned more often than fathers and were portrayed negatively. We conclude that newspapers portray female autism as less significant than male autism and, in addition, place mothers under more ethical scrutiny than fathers. These disparities reflect both historical biases in autism research and gender and family-role stereotypes.Lay abstract News media influence how society views different social groups. A recent study which examined how British newspapers represent autism found that the coverage was largely negative, focused mainly on boys, and often presented their stories from the perspectives of their mothers. This follow-up study aims to understand how these representations vary by gender and family role. We analysed 2998 short newspaper texts discussing autism in terms of four groups: boys, girls, fathers and mothers. We looked at articles from different times, with various reporting styles and political leanings. Across all these sources, autism was portrayed negatively regardless of gender or family role. Over time, newspapers did tend to mention autistic girls more frequently, highlighting them as a distinct group compared to autistic boys. Newspapers, especially broadsheets, often focused on how autistic girls face difficulties in getting diagnosed and hide their characteristics, and on the role autism may play in gender identity issues, particularly for girls assigned female at birth. In addition, newspapers attributed more blame for the child?s autism to mothers' than fathers' behaviours. Autistic mothers were mentioned more frequently than fathers, however these mentions were often negative. Our results suggest that newspapers portray autism in girls as less significant than the autism of boys and criticise mothers of autistic children more harshly than their fathers. These findings reflect long-standing biases in autism research and reinforce broader stereotypes about gender and family roles. Such biased reporting may hinder public understanding and acceptance of the diverse experiences within the autistic community. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13623613241303547 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=555 [article] Gender and family-role portrayals of autism in British newspapers: An intersectional corpus-based study [Texte imprimé et/ou numérique] / Themis KARAMINIS, Auteur ; Costas GABRIELATOS, Auteur ; Ursula MADEN-WEINBERGER, Auteur ; Geoffrey BEATTIE, Auteur . - p.1285-1302. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Autism > 29-5 (May 2025) . - p.1285-1302 Mots-clés : autism  family  gender  newspapers  stereotypes  stigma Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : A recent large-scale study on the portrayal of autism in British newspapers revealed a deficit-based coverage, which concentrated on children and boys in particular, typically represented from the mothers' perspective. This follow-up study refines these representations, considering how they differ by gender and family role. We analysed 2998 text samples, which discussed autism in the context of four combinations of gender and family roles, namely, BOY, GIRL, FATHER and MOTHER. These samples included sources with different publication dates, reporting style and political orientation. Autism representations remained negative regardless of gender and family role. Over time, stories about autistic girls started to emerge, identifying them as a distinct group explicitly compared to autistic boys. Newspapers, especially broadsheets, associated girls with diagnostic difficulties, camouflaging and sometimes gender dysphoria ? discussed particularly for those assigned female at birth. The child?s autism was more often attributed to maternal than paternal behaviours or lifestyle. Autistic mothers were mentioned more often than fathers and were portrayed negatively. We conclude that newspapers portray female autism as less significant than male autism and, in addition, place mothers under more ethical scrutiny than fathers. These disparities reflect both historical biases in autism research and gender and family-role stereotypes.Lay abstract News media influence how society views different social groups. A recent study which examined how British newspapers represent autism found that the coverage was largely negative, focused mainly on boys, and often presented their stories from the perspectives of their mothers. This follow-up study aims to understand how these representations vary by gender and family role. We analysed 2998 short newspaper texts discussing autism in terms of four groups: boys, girls, fathers and mothers. We looked at articles from different times, with various reporting styles and political leanings. Across all these sources, autism was portrayed negatively regardless of gender or family role. Over time, newspapers did tend to mention autistic girls more frequently, highlighting them as a distinct group compared to autistic boys. Newspapers, especially broadsheets, often focused on how autistic girls face difficulties in getting diagnosed and hide their characteristics, and on the role autism may play in gender identity issues, particularly for girls assigned female at birth. In addition, newspapers attributed more blame for the child?s autism to mothers' than fathers' behaviours. Autistic mothers were mentioned more frequently than fathers, however these mentions were often negative. Our results suggest that newspapers portray autism in girls as less significant than the autism of boys and criticise mothers of autistic children more harshly than their fathers. These findings reflect long-standing biases in autism research and reinforce broader stereotypes about gender and family roles. Such biased reporting may hinder public understanding and acceptance of the diverse experiences within the autistic community. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13623613241303547 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=555

Portrayals of autism in the British press: A corpus-based study / Themis KARAMINIS in Autism, 27-4 (May 2023)  

Public ISBD [article]  inAutism > 27-4 (May 2023) . - p.1092-1114 Titre : Portrayals of autism in the British press: A corpus-based study Type de document : Texte imprimé et/ou numérique Auteurs : Themis KARAMINIS, Auteur ; Costas GABRIELATOS, Auteur ; Ursula MADEN-WEINBERGER, Auteur ; Geoffrey BEATTIE, Auteur Article en page(s) : p.1092-1114 Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : acceptance,autism spectrum disorders,corpus-based,critical discourse analysis,implicit attitudes,newspapers,representations Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Press representations of autism and autistic people both reflect and help shape public attitudes towards autism and neurodiversity and may establish critical barriers to social integration for autistic individuals. This study examined such representations in UK newspapers in the period 2011-2020 using a corpus-based approach. It also considered how press representations changed over time and differed with regard to reporting style (tabloids vs broadsheets) and political orientation (left- vs right-leaning). We created the Autism UK Press Corpus, which included all documents (~24K) referring to autism in 10 national newspapers. We used document counts (normalised by newspaper size) to assess the 'newsworthiness' of autism. We also employed a synergy of corpus-based and critical-discourse-analysis methodologies to study lexicogrammatical patterns and uncover explicit and implicit attitudes towards autism. Our results showed that the coverage of autism increased slightly over time, especially in broadsheets and left-leaning newspapers. Newspapers emphasised adversities associated with autism, often used negative language, and tended to focus on boys. These representations shifted gradually towards more difference-based descriptions and included more diverse age/gender groups, especially in broadsheets and left-leaning newspapers. We discuss the broad implications of these findings for the autism community and those interested in a more inclusive society.Lay abstractAny thriving society must recognise, accept and celebrate all of its diverse talent. But how accepting is British society towards autism and autistic people? This research addressed this question through the lens of the press since the press both reflects and helps shape public attitudes towards various social categories. We used specialised 'corpus-based' methods to carry out a large-scale study, which examined all articles referring to autism or autistic people in 10 national British newspapers in the period 2011-2020. We first investigated how often newspapers referred to autism. We found that the coverage of autism increased slightly over the years, suggesting that autism was becoming an increasingly newsworthy topic. Furthermore, the rise in autism coverage differed considerably between individual newspapers: it was more pronounced in the broadsheets than tabloids, and in left-leaning than right-leaning newspapers. But what was the focus of these articles? We found that newspapers emphasised the adversities associated with autism and portrayed autism with a lot of negative language. Newspapers also tended to focus on autistic children, and particularly on boys. There were some signs of change in more recent years, with some newspapers now representing autism as a difference and, in addition, referring to more diverse groups of autistic people. However, these changes tended to be confined to broadsheets and left-leaning newspapers. Our findings suggest that representations of autism in the contemporary British press are skewed towards stereotypically negative views, which may well hinder the acceptance of autism and the fostering of a more inclusive society. En ligne : https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221131752 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=499 [article] Portrayals of autism in the British press: A corpus-based study [Texte imprimé et/ou numérique] / Themis KARAMINIS, Auteur ; Costas GABRIELATOS, Auteur ; Ursula MADEN-WEINBERGER, Auteur ; Geoffrey BEATTIE, Auteur . - p.1092-1114. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Autism > 27-4 (May 2023) . - p.1092-1114 Mots-clés : acceptance,autism spectrum disorders,corpus-based,critical discourse analysis,implicit attitudes,newspapers,representations Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Press representations of autism and autistic people both reflect and help shape public attitudes towards autism and neurodiversity and may establish critical barriers to social integration for autistic individuals. This study examined such representations in UK newspapers in the period 2011-2020 using a corpus-based approach. It also considered how press representations changed over time and differed with regard to reporting style (tabloids vs broadsheets) and political orientation (left- vs right-leaning). We created the Autism UK Press Corpus, which included all documents (~24K) referring to autism in 10 national newspapers. We used document counts (normalised by newspaper size) to assess the 'newsworthiness' of autism. We also employed a synergy of corpus-based and critical-discourse-analysis methodologies to study lexicogrammatical patterns and uncover explicit and implicit attitudes towards autism. Our results showed that the coverage of autism increased slightly over time, especially in broadsheets and left-leaning newspapers. Newspapers emphasised adversities associated with autism, often used negative language, and tended to focus on boys. These representations shifted gradually towards more difference-based descriptions and included more diverse age/gender groups, especially in broadsheets and left-leaning newspapers. We discuss the broad implications of these findings for the autism community and those interested in a more inclusive society.Lay abstractAny thriving society must recognise, accept and celebrate all of its diverse talent. But how accepting is British society towards autism and autistic people? This research addressed this question through the lens of the press since the press both reflects and helps shape public attitudes towards various social categories. We used specialised 'corpus-based' methods to carry out a large-scale study, which examined all articles referring to autism or autistic people in 10 national British newspapers in the period 2011-2020. We first investigated how often newspapers referred to autism. We found that the coverage of autism increased slightly over the years, suggesting that autism was becoming an increasingly newsworthy topic. Furthermore, the rise in autism coverage differed considerably between individual newspapers: it was more pronounced in the broadsheets than tabloids, and in left-leaning than right-leaning newspapers. But what was the focus of these articles? We found that newspapers emphasised the adversities associated with autism and portrayed autism with a lot of negative language. Newspapers also tended to focus on autistic children, and particularly on boys. There were some signs of change in more recent years, with some newspapers now representing autism as a difference and, in addition, referring to more diverse groups of autistic people. However, these changes tended to be confined to broadsheets and left-leaning newspapers. Our findings suggest that representations of autism in the contemporary British press are skewed towards stereotypically negative views, which may well hinder the acceptance of autism and the fostering of a more inclusive society. En ligne : https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221131752 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=499

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