Parents' constructions of professional knowledge, expertise and authority during assessment and diagnosis of their child for an autistic spectrum disorder

This paper presents a discourse analysis of parents' talk about the knowled ge, expertise and authority of professionals, during assessment and diagnos is of their child for an autistic spectrum disorder at a Child Development Centre. Focusing on the positional level of analysis, it was suggested chat parents' constructions of professional expertise and authority were inhere ntly ambivalent and at rimes contradictory. It was further argued that this ambivalence is also reflected in an ideological dilemma between equality a nd expertise, regarding the role and positioning of 'human relations expert s'. Discourse analysis was found to be a particularly useful tool in invest igating aspects of the parents' calk relating to authority, knowledge and e xpertise. It is suggested that acknowledging this ambivalence and scrutiniz ing one's assumptions and practice, rather than denying the authoritarian a spects of health care, would provide the basis for more ethical and respect ful clinical practice.