Discursive research has examined family therapy as a process of collaboratively negotiating a preferable account of the problem. The present study uses membership categorization analysis to examine how this process occurs in a sequence of family therapy sessions with the family of a 15‐year‐old boy diagnosed with high‐functioning autism and experiencing conflict with his school. The analysis focuses on the deployment of the membership categorization device ‘disability’ in the construction of the problem and the use of the devices ‘family’ and ‘stages‐of‐life’ to construct a new, problem‐dissolving account. Conclusions are drawn about the potential usefulness of recategorization via naturally occurring membership categorization devices in constructing solutions in family therapy. Practitioner points Therapy is the collaborative negotiation of an account of the family situation in which the problem does not exist. Naturally occurring groups of categories (MCDs) supply resources for such renegotiation. Where a problem has been constructed in the MCD ‘disability’ it can be ‘dis‐solved’ using the MCDs ‘family’ and ‘stages‐of‐life’. More generally, the use of higher order and highly naturalized MCDs may be effective in displacing problem‐generating constructions.