tame or eradicate unruly ‘plants’ (those who do not coincide with the social norms) (Bauman, 1992). With this, identity construction within modernity was limited to authoritative figures controlling norms of identity. This has detrimental impacts on the reception of minority groups who were disregarded for not conforming to regulated norms.

By contrast, Jackson and Hogg (2010) suggest that the decline of social hierarchy by questioning elitists/experts and having confidence in oneself are key principles of postmodernity. This means that the discourse surrounding identity that was created by ‘white-able-bodied-heterosexual-men’ that plagued modernity is destabilised and replaced by individual identities in postmodernity. This is pivotal to understanding disabilities as it undermines the governing rules that define normality by appreciating disability as a social construct (Tregaskis, 2002). From a SSR perspective, the inclusive approach that postmodernity offers reflects the celebration of difference and desire to research the real social world. However, with the proliferation of identities in contemporary society, identity construction has become problematic. With relation to autism, psychologists suggest that the autistic spectrum is becoming too all-encompassing that the difference between those with autism and the general public will become non-existent in less than 10-years (Rødgaard, Jensen, Vergnes, Soulières & Mottron, 2019). Supporting this, Clements (2019) suggests that “many people now self-identify as autistic as though it were a fashion label rather than a debilitating disorder”. This attitude has led to the marginalisation of autistic people, and social media enhances this with ‘#ActuallyAutistic’ encouraging people to self-identify. It is evident that while a proliferation of identities offers liberation by encouraging people to construct their own identities, but can have detrimental impacts on those who are disabled.