Beyond the Deficit Model: A Qualitative Narrative Analysis of Non-Speaking Autistic Memoirs and Implications for Augmentative Communication in Inclusive Classrooms

Abstract

Traditional special education assessment paradigms for non-speaking students frequently rely on deficit-based metrics that evaluate vocal-motor execution against normative benchmarks. This paper conducts an in-depth qualitative narrative analysis of two foundational first-person memoirs authored by non-speaking autistic writers: Tito Rajarshi Mukhopadhyay’s How Can I Talk If My Lips Don't Move? and Naoki Higashida’s The Reason I Jump. Framed through Critical Disability Studies (CDS), Remi Yergeau’s neurodivergent rhetoric, and Damian Milton’s conceptualisation of the "Double Empathy Problem," this textual analysis examines how these authors employ metaphor, structural innovation, and sensory descriptions to challenge historical assumptions of cognitive impairment. The analysis reveals three primary thematic findings: the structural dissociation between motor execution barriers and cognitive comprehension, narrative voice as an active instrument of self-advocacy and agency, and the acute sensory friction produced by normative educational environments. The study synthesizes these literary insights into concrete pedagogical applications, advocating for presumed competence, early and expanded Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) implementation, interdisciplinary collaboration between special educators and speech-language pathologists, and neurodiversity-affirming teacher education curricula.