An approach to the bioethical analysis of the paradigm of neurosciences in the study of autistic disorder

Abstract

Considering the peculiar characteristics of autism, the diversity of its shapes and the gravity of its diagnosis, researchers and professionals from different paradigms try to understand and detect the symptoms early. Each paradigm defines the field of research based on theoretical assumptions that explain reality and that are consistent with the scientific community recognised as legitimate. We believe that the understanding of autism according to the paradigm of neurosciences deserves also to be addressed from the bioethics perspective, regarding the behaviors and practices of those researchers working in this field. It is necessary to deepen into the bioethical implications of the application of technological advances and the introduction of machines and tools in the study and experimentation with children, in the attempt to measure body manifestations. Reflecting from the bioethics perspective provides the possibility of introducing new statements in the face of the possible risk of falling into positions that objectify and reduce the complexity of the child to a simple mechanism, thus dismissing how the concept of childhood and singularity operates in each case.