Konstruktionen av det avvikande förskolebarnet: En kritisk fallstudie angående utvecklingsbedömningar av yngre barn.

The objective of this dissertation is to describe and explore the conditions on which diagnoses of children are based.  The dissertation analyses the organisational processes that make up the discursive practice with regard to evaluations and assessments of a child’s development.  The dissertation elucidates the way in which different professional groups interpret the question of what is normal and what is different. The concept of normality is analysed in a social perspective and is linked to the way in which different players work with formulating ‘truths’ about deviation.  The study on which the dissertation is based is a field study that analyses the way in which special-needs children are categorised. The study investigates the different players involved in this categorisation process, as well the power structure between e.g. psychiatrists and psychologists. The dissertation reviews previous research in the area and, building on this research, looks closer at how child carers describe those traits in the child that have led to the child being defined as a special-needs child.

The dissertation concludes that in general there are three categories of children who a granted extra teacher resources: retarded children, children who are delayed in their development and children from within the autism spectrum. These three categories are primarily defined by external assessors. The child habilitation unit (Barnhabiliteringen) is responsible for examining and diagnosing mentally retarded children and children with an autism diagnosis. The category ‘late development’ is less clear, and children in this category are identified either by a psychologist or the district coordinator. This term is a collective term for children who, for a number of different reasons, are seen to fall behind their peers in one or more areas. These diagnoses open doors with regard to obtaining resources, however they also serve as a confirmation from society that the problem is linked to the child and must therefore be biological.

Empirical data are gathered in a Swedish district over a period of just under a year and include interviews and interview observations with an unidentified number of child carers, headmasters and psychologists. Furthermore document analysis is included.

Lutz, K. (2006). Konstruktionen av det avvikande förskolebarnet: En kritisk fallstudie angående utvecklingsbedömningar av yngre barn. Malmö: Malmö högskola, Lärarutbildningen.