Abstract

THE PORTRAY OF AUTISTIC INDIVIDUALS IN ONLINE NEWS ARTICLE DISCOURSE: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Huda H. Khalil

Volume: 10 Issue: 1 2020

Abstract:

The paper reports on the negative portrayal of autistic individuals in online news articles. It investigates the way such easily accessible global discourse can portray a sensitive group, namely, the autistic individuals. The focus is on the ideological content of online news about autism, using Van Leeuwen’s social actor determination approach. The analysis of ten online news articles from the BBC News leads to the identification of a real social problem. Although the online articles analyzed portray autistic individuals in a broad context, their status is imbued with several other (social) roles that have ideological negative connotations. Such negativity is a critical issue for family members and caretakers of autistic individuals who struggle with this negative image when trying to adapt to living and caring for an autistic individual.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.37648/ijrssh.v10i01.009

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