Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Integrated Article

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Supervisor

Teachman, Gail

2nd Supervisor

Laliberte Rudman, Debbie

Co-Supervisor

Abstract

Critical approaches in occupational science challenge taken-for-granted beliefs and norms that underpin occupational inequities and reimagine new possibilities for occupation. Guided by occupational possibilities, a critically situated occupational science concept that is informed by a governmentality lens, this dissertation examines dominant discourses and their effects and consequences for the occupational possibilities and subject positions of fathers of autisticchildren. By critically unpacking the contemporary governance of fathering in relationship to autistic children, this thesis demonstrates the need to resist discourses and turn attention to the broader oppressive systems at play.

This dissertation consists of an introduction, three integrated manuscripts, and a conclusion. In Chapter one, I situate this scholarship, explain the purpose and rationale, and delineate the disciplinary and theoretical boundaries and underpinnings of my work. In Chapter two, I utilize a critical interpretive synthesis methodology to examine how parents of autistic children were represented within contemporary occupation-focused scholarship. This study found that the reviewed literature was primarily informed by, and focused on, mothers of autistic children with scant representation of fathers. This finding set the foundation for the rest of this dissertation which, instead, attends to fathers and fathering occupations. In chapter three, I review and analyse critically situated interdisciplinary scholarship to enhance understanding of the dominant fathering discourses, the critiques of such discourses, and the potential effects for fathers’ occupational possibilities and subject positions. Chapter four is a critical discourse analysis of social media posts created by fathers of autistic children. In this manuscript, I attend to the potential effects and consequences of fathering, neoliberal, and biomedical discourses on the subject positions and occupational possibilities for fathers of autistic children. In chapter five, I discuss key insights and implications for future research and clinical practices addressing fathers of autistic children and fathering occupations.

Through a series of related studies, this dissertation contributes to critical scholarship on fathers of autistic children. It makes explicit the ongoing prevalence of problematic political and sociocultural forces on occupational possibilities and subject positions, highlighting the power structures and broader systemic and social barriers navigated by fathers of autistic children within neoliberal societies.

Summary for Lay Audience

Critical approaches in the field of occupational science challenge taken-for-granted beliefs to reimagine new possibilities for occupation, or the everyday things we do. This thesis uses occupational possibilities, a critically informed occupational science concept that is informed by a governmentality lens, to examine the effects and consequences of dominant ways fathering is written and talked about, referred to as discourses, for how fathers of autistic children understand fathering, how they are viewed as fathers, and possibilities for what they can and should do. By considering the discourses that shape fathering in relationship to autistic children this thesis aimed to disrupt oppressive discourses and systems that constrain occupational possibilities.

This dissertation consists of an introduction, three manuscripts, and a conclusion. In Chapter one, I introduce the purpose of this scholarship and define key theories, concepts and terms that inform this work. Chapter two uses a critical interpretive synthesis methodology to examine how parents of autistic children were represented within current occupational scholarship. This study found that the reviewed literature largely focused on mothers of autistic children with limited inclusion of fathers. This finding set the foundation for the rest of this thesis which investigates fathers and fathering occupations. Chapter three is a narrative review of critical interdisciplinary scholarship that examines what the dominant fathering discourses are, how these discourses are being critiqued, and the potential effects of discourses for fathers’ occupational possibilities and subject positions. Chapter four is a critical discourse analysis of social media posts by fathers of autistic children. In this manuscript, I investigate fathering, neoliberal, and biomedical discourses to reveal the potential effects and consequences of these for the subject positions and occupational possibilities of fathers of autistic children. In chapter five I discuss key insights and implications for future research and clinical practices addressing fathers of autistic children and fathering occupations.

This dissertation contributes to critical scholarship on fathers of autistic children. It makes explicit the prevalence of problematic political, social and cultural forces impacting fathering roles, highlighting the power structures and broader systemic and social barriers that fathers of autistic children must navigate in Western societies.

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