Autistic ontologies and the open genome

This chapter explores assumptions built into normal autism science, pointing out research findings that are anomalous in the Kuhnian sense because they challenge biomedical mechanism and determinism intrinsic to the dominant genetic paradigm. In so doing the chapter suggests new directions for an emergent ontology of autism based on the anomalous findings of the genetic paradigm. The ethics and politics of the dominant paradigm and the proposed emergent ontology are interrogated, and recommendations are made for more environmentally and socially responsive future research trajectories. Finally the chapter concludes by reflecting on the challenges inherent in negotiating the interactivities between biological and social systems in public policy, funded research, and advocacy messages.