Sociological dimensions of autism

Autism has brought about special problems not only related with the individuals involved in a given community but also with all of the social sections directly or indirectly involved with this condition; this is the reason why such a social phenomenon has become the chief focus of our concern and an interesting area in sociological studies. The study which can be considered as a qualitative study was conducted as a field investigation being based upon various, questionnaires including individuals with autism and their families; the universe of our investigation consisted of seven regions and 14 provinces in Turkey, 2 foundations,15 organizations, people who have autistic children and those who are working in those organizations both as chief executive officers and working in some other posts; a total of 42 participants were recruited. Illuminating the sociological dimensions related with the repercussions of such a sociological and psychological phenomenon on familial, social and individual levels has also been one of the objectives of our investigation. Within this context, the participants who were included in our study were interviewed about their different knowledges, opinions, perceptions, approaches experiences. Data obtained from participants were deciphered and then subjected to descriptive analysis after due evaluations. Data were also analyzed under 3 themes, 27 categories and 203 sub-categories related with the individuals, families and the society. By the aid of such analysis, problematic areas of individuals with autism and the burdens and responsibilities imposed upon their families as well as various other issues encountered in their social environments were determined. In other words, the way people are affected by autism in terms of social, psychological, economical and cultural scales has been scrutinized; based on this premise, solutions and recommendations were proposed for these downtrodden sections of our society so that they might not be further alienated from their social environment. This study has been considered to be original and autonomous and that it recruited its findings directly from the field and developed its perspectives based upon the literature on autism and churned out it's results in a way as to be beneficial for those concerned with these phenomenon. Thus, it would be much more tempting to say that further investigations based upon further questionnaires and analysis should be conducted in the future in order to have an adequate understanding of the repercussions of such phenomenon. Key Words: Autism, Socialization, Alienation, Disadvantaged Groups