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Abstract
The experiences of disabled people suggest that ableism insidiously and invasively impacts upon the practice of counselling and related therapies. This article critiques a particular account of psychotherapy with a child with the label of autism to illustrate how ableism can disrupt the process of empathy and negate the therapeutic experience. In so doing the article highlights the inherent difficulties in traversing different epistemic positions to make sufficiently informed readings of counternormative expressions of being. General principles of counselling practice are then proposed to support practitioners with providing effective therapy for all clients.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Professor Colin Feltham for his insightful comments on an earlier draft of this article and the three reviewers for their detailed and helpful suggestions for improvement. I am extremely grateful also to the community of disability studies scholars at the Disability Research Forum at Sheffield Hallam University and conferences in Lancaster, Manchester and Reykjavik who have provided highly supportive and developmental comments on this work during its various stages of development.