Autism discourse in Japanese newspapers

This chapter explored the autism discourse in two Japanese national newspapers, Yomiuri and Mainichi, from 2014 to 2024, examining media's engagement in diverse perspectives around autism and influence on public understanding. The corpus contained 60 articles under three themes: medical diagnosis, community support, and education. The analysis used the heteroglossic framework within the engagement system of appraisal theory (Martin & White, 2005), highlighting the way newspapers linguistically construct dialogic spaces. Findings showed a predominant dialogic expansion space in the medical theme. Citations to medical professionals, whose opinions seem influential in shaping public perceptions, were more frequent than those to government officials. The community support theme revealed substantial tension marked by negative stereotypes that affect autistic people. The education theme presented relatively balanced viewpoints while critically highlighting challenges in assisting autistic people across institutions. Yomiuri presents information by reporting different viewpoints rather than overtly taking a stance. Conversely, Mainichi uses more diverse techniques and relies less on indirect narratives. While medical perspectives continue to dominate autism discourses, recent shifts toward inclusive education and community support suggest evolving societal attitudes aligned with broader international standards. This study highlights the need to diversify linguistic representations and enhance the direct inclusion of autistic voices, advocating a balanced approach toward improving public awareness.