The Phenomenon of Substitution and Asperger's Syndrome a Phenomenological Analysis

Abstract

This thesis suggests that the alliance between contemporary Psychology and Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology provides a more complete analysis of the embodied experience of persons with Asperger's Syndrome (AS). This alliance would rely upon the first person experiences of those with AS in addition to the physiological analysis and observations provided by those in Contemporary Psychology. By examining the analysis provided by contemporary psychologists within in the framework of the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, the 'whole' of the embodied experience of persons with AS will be revealed. The analysis of Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen, one of the foremost contemporary psychologists in the field of autism is examined. I will conclude that Baron-Cohen privileges interpersonal interaction while overlooking other types of interaction by an embodied being within the phenomenal world. First person accounts written by Temple Grandin, Ph.D. and Dawn Prince-Hughes, Ph.D., both persons with AS, are relied upon for the analysis of an alliance between the two disciplines. Critical to this examination is Merleau-Ponty' s Phenomenon of Substitution, the 'seat of illness', and the 'third term'. Also discussed will be issues of boundaries that serve to separate the neurotypical from those persons with AS. These boundaries serve to diminish the potential and accomplishments of those persons with AS while attempting to maintain the hierarchical supremacy of those who are neurotypical.