Childism, Adultism, and Language Barriers in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Messaging: An Analysis of EDI Statements across Child and Youth Autism Centres, Clinics and Hospitals in Canada
In the past three years, organizations in Canada have been asked to better address issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Organizations have been encouraged to self-reflexively look inward, to examine how institutional policies and practices serve EDI goals. EDI is increasingly regarded a...
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| Language: | English |
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Brock University
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Studies in Social Justice |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.library.brocku.ca/index.php/SSJ/article/view/4562 |
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| author | Fiona J. Moola Timothy Ross Nivatha Moothathamby Sukyoung Hong Methuna Naganathan Clarissa Yu Louisa Donato |
| author_facet | Fiona J. Moola Timothy Ross Nivatha Moothathamby Sukyoung Hong Methuna Naganathan Clarissa Yu Louisa Donato |
| author_sort | Fiona J. Moola |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the past three years, organizations in Canada have been asked to better address issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Organizations have been encouraged to self-reflexively look inward, to examine how institutional policies and practices serve EDI goals. EDI is increasingly regarded as a social justice issue. In the Canadian autism and autistic community, more attention is being devoted to EDI. However, to date EDI messaging has not been explored in the context of child and youth autism centers and hospitals. We conducted a scan of EDI messaging across child and youth Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) centres in Canada. We utilized a document analysis approach. We found major geographic disparities in EDI messaging with most EDI messaging originating from Ontario. Some ASD centers did not have EDI statements. EDI messaging was mainly directed toward adults, and in this way reflected discourses of childism and adultism. Despite Canada’s growing language diversity, EDI statements were mainly in English only and reflected a lack of engagement with other languages. Statements were Euro-centric. Vagueness in EDI statements, tokenistic EDI statements, and a lack of attention to intersectionality in EDI statements continue to be problems of a moderate scale. Finally, many ASD centers were reliant on broader institutions’ EDI statements and did not generate their own EDI statements. Suggestions to improve EDI messaging in the context of pediatric care – such as engaging children and families in the writing of EDI statements and taking accountability and responsibility to generate one’s own – are proposed.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2cb2c678bce6407ebb52a1399da8ce33 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1911-4788 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Brock University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Studies in Social Justice |
| spelling | doaj-art-2cb2c678bce6407ebb52a1399da8ce332025-08-20T02:58:14ZengBrock UniversityStudies in Social Justice1911-47882025-08-0119210.26522/ssj.v19i2.4562Childism, Adultism, and Language Barriers in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Messaging: An Analysis of EDI Statements across Child and Youth Autism Centres, Clinics and Hospitals in CanadaFiona J. Moola0Timothy Ross 1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9344-8645Nivatha Moothathamby 2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1222-6157Sukyoung Hong 3https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2212-1459Methuna Naganathan 4Clarissa Yu5Louisa Donato6Toronto Metropolitan University & University of TorontoHolland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital & University of TorontoUniversity of Toronto & Toronto Metropolitan University University of Toronto & Toronto Metropolitan University SAAAC Autism Centre University of Toronto Toronto Metropolitan UniversityIn the past three years, organizations in Canada have been asked to better address issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Organizations have been encouraged to self-reflexively look inward, to examine how institutional policies and practices serve EDI goals. EDI is increasingly regarded as a social justice issue. In the Canadian autism and autistic community, more attention is being devoted to EDI. However, to date EDI messaging has not been explored in the context of child and youth autism centers and hospitals. We conducted a scan of EDI messaging across child and youth Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) centres in Canada. We utilized a document analysis approach. We found major geographic disparities in EDI messaging with most EDI messaging originating from Ontario. Some ASD centers did not have EDI statements. EDI messaging was mainly directed toward adults, and in this way reflected discourses of childism and adultism. Despite Canada’s growing language diversity, EDI statements were mainly in English only and reflected a lack of engagement with other languages. Statements were Euro-centric. Vagueness in EDI statements, tokenistic EDI statements, and a lack of attention to intersectionality in EDI statements continue to be problems of a moderate scale. Finally, many ASD centers were reliant on broader institutions’ EDI statements and did not generate their own EDI statements. Suggestions to improve EDI messaging in the context of pediatric care – such as engaging children and families in the writing of EDI statements and taking accountability and responsibility to generate one’s own – are proposed. https://journals.library.brocku.ca/index.php/SSJ/article/view/4562autismequitydiversityinclusionchildrenyouth |
| spellingShingle | Fiona J. Moola Timothy Ross Nivatha Moothathamby Sukyoung Hong Methuna Naganathan Clarissa Yu Louisa Donato Childism, Adultism, and Language Barriers in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Messaging: An Analysis of EDI Statements across Child and Youth Autism Centres, Clinics and Hospitals in Canada Studies in Social Justice autism equity diversity inclusion children youth |
| title | Childism, Adultism, and Language Barriers in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Messaging: An Analysis of EDI Statements across Child and Youth Autism Centres, Clinics and Hospitals in Canada |
| title_full | Childism, Adultism, and Language Barriers in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Messaging: An Analysis of EDI Statements across Child and Youth Autism Centres, Clinics and Hospitals in Canada |
| title_fullStr | Childism, Adultism, and Language Barriers in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Messaging: An Analysis of EDI Statements across Child and Youth Autism Centres, Clinics and Hospitals in Canada |
| title_full_unstemmed | Childism, Adultism, and Language Barriers in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Messaging: An Analysis of EDI Statements across Child and Youth Autism Centres, Clinics and Hospitals in Canada |
| title_short | Childism, Adultism, and Language Barriers in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Messaging: An Analysis of EDI Statements across Child and Youth Autism Centres, Clinics and Hospitals in Canada |
| title_sort | childism adultism and language barriers in equity diversity and inclusion edi messaging an analysis of edi statements across child and youth autism centres clinics and hospitals in canada |
| topic | autism equity diversity inclusion children youth |
| url | https://journals.library.brocku.ca/index.php/SSJ/article/view/4562 |
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