Neurodiversity Movement Research Articles

Addressing the autism mental health crisis: the potential of phenomenology in neurodiversity-affirming clinical practices.

The neurodiversity movement has introduced a new era for autism research. Yet, the neurodiversity paradigm and the autism clinic remain largely unconnected. With the present work, we aim to contribute to filling this lacuna by putting forward phenomenology as a foundation for developing neurodiversity-affirming clinical interventions for autism. In the first part of this paper, we highlight that autistic people face a severe mental health crisis. We argue that approaches focused on reducing autistic 'symptoms' are unlikely to solve the problem, as autistic mental health is positively correlated with autism acceptance and perceived quality of support provided, not necessarily with lack of 'symptomatologic severity'. Therefore, the development and dissemination of neurodiversity-affirming clinical interventions is key for addressing the autism mental health crisis. However, therapists and researchers exploring such neurodiversity-affirming practices are faced with two significant challenges. First, they lack concrete methodological principles regarding the incorporation of neurodiversity into clinical work. Second, they need to find ways to acknowledge rightful calls to respect the 'autistic self' within the clinic, while also challenging certain beliefs and behaviors of autistic clients in a manner that is sine qua non for therapy, irrespective of neurotype. In the second part of the paper, we introduce phenomenological psychology as a potential resource for engaging with these challenges in neurodiversity-affirming approaches to psychotherapy. In this vein, we put forward specific directions for adapting cognitive behavioral and interpersonal psychotherapy for autism.

Peculiar Theological Education

Theological education has yet to grapple with the complexities of autistic lives and the wider neurodiversity movement. This article discusses the ways in which theological education is complicit in the epistemic oppression of autistic students and lecturers. It proposes that autistic theology can be called “peculiar” and that so also can theological education be made peculiar for autistic theology students. A pedagogy for autistic theological education is proposed via engagement with Paulo Freire, black and feminist theologies. Such a theology, in a confessional Christian context is described as post-Pentecostal conscientization and seeks a community of students and scholars that treat the classroom as holy ground for autistic lives.

Mindshift in autism: a call to professionals in research, clinical, and educational settings.

Autistic people often have poor outcomes over the life course, including in health, education, employment, and community inclusion. Many professionals working with Autistic adults in research, clinical, and educational settings devote their careers to trying to improve such outcomes. However, we maintain that real progress cannot happen without a fundamental mindshift. The status quo for professionals is to view autism as an illness. Instead, the neurodiversity movement encourages us to value and embrace autism as an aspect of human diversity and asks us to view Autistic people as a marginalized group that experiences significant disparities. While some professionals may be adopting language and concepts from the neurodiversity movement, we argue that making this mindshift fundamentally changes our practice across research, clinical, and educational settings. In this perspective, we call on professionals to embrace this mindshift to reduce discrimination and stigma, halt the spread of harmful ideologies, and help Autistic adults live fulfilling lives.

Supporting neurodivergent talent: ADHD, autism, and dyslexia in physics and space sciences

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts must include disability and neurodivergence. While there is a long history of famous scientists being identified or speculatively indicated to be neurodivergent, identification on an individual basis has been limited until fairly recently. Definitions have changed and broadened, and people are being identified or are identifying themselves as neurodivergent and are learning about their paths and their brains in a way that was unavailable to people two decades ago. In the contemporary physics or space science classroom or workplace, we have both a responsibility to include and support our neurodivergent learners and scientists, as well as an opportunity to use insights from the neurodiversity movement to better support our teams and students. Herein we explain the language used to describe neurodivergent traits and offer strategies and ideas to support our neurodivergent community members. These strategies include ideas for supporting executive function as well as tips in the areas of physical comfort and sensory considerations.

Brief research report: Investigating neurodiversity acceptance in the college classroom: an exploratory study

IntroductionHigher education represents a potential opportunity to address autism stigma and, in turn, prevent the negative health consequences of stigma as autistic college students transition into adulthood. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the general college student body and describe their (1) level of autism acceptance based on the neurodiversity framework utilizing the Autism Attitude Acceptance Scale (AAAS) and (2) self-reported knowledge and interests about neurodiversity.MethodsThe sample (n = 90, M age = 21.86, SD = 1.18) featured undergraduates enrolled in a large, diverse, public university in the U.S. Approximately 32% (n = 29) identified as neurodivergent, with 5 identifying as autistic. Separate groups of students completed the AAAS—administered via Qualtrics—in February and September of 2022. In addition, students were provided the opportunity to ask up to three questions each about neurodiversity. We utilized qualitative thematic coding to extract themes from the neurodiversity questions.ResultsWe derived frequency and descriptive statistics for each item and the two AAAS subscales: (1) the General Acceptance (GA) subscale (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.89) and (2) the Attitudes toward Treating Autistic Behavior (ATAB) subscale (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.77). Responses reflected high general autism acceptance. Responses demonstrated greater variability, however, with respect to attitudes toward treating autistic behaviors. Qualitative findings revealed both a high degree of interest in the neurodiversity movement, as well as high variability in knowledge and familiarity with its tenets.ConclusionThis research can inform higher education’s efforts to address and prevent stigma towards autistic and other neurodivergent students.

Neurodivergent culture and embodied knowledge beyond neoliberal identity politics

The neurodiversity movement has influenced the way people think about mental health and disability around the world. Emerging during the turn of the 21st century, it has simultaneously incorporated ideas from mainstream science and challenged the authority of scientists and clinical professionals as the sole arbiters of what those diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders are capable of. In the process, it has spawned a unique approach to identity politics, evoking questions about the body, mind, and culture too often ignored in critiques commonly directed at it. This paper combines concepts from posthumanist, feminist, and queer theorists with writings from neurodiversity scholars and activists to highlight how differences in embodied disposition are policed under neoliberal capitalism. This sets a foundation for a nuanced understanding of neurodivergent identity as an expression of neurodiversity culture. Drawing on Karen Barad’s agential realism, neurodivergence is construed as a form of agency produced through processes of disidentification with mainstream cultural norms rather than identification with a particular social category. It is suggested that any critique of the neurodiversity movement should account for how those who participate in it use its language to distance themselves from neoliberal institutional norms and engender community through a counterculture of embodied knowledge.

4Disability Studies

Abstract This review of disability studies literature published in 2022 examines the field’s current investment in points of departure from ableist and neurotypical access to communication, work, and care. Such topics have been central to practices and theoretical concepts within disability justice movements, the neurodiversity movement, and the space of disability studies scholarship for at least the past fifteen years. While the literature surveyed in this review builds on that corpus, it is also imbued, whether explicitly or implicitly, with the continuing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the rhetorical impacts of the 2020 US presidential election and the responses or lack thereof to the longstanding accessibility needs of disabled and neurodivergent populations illuminated through global lockdowns. The review considers Akemi Nishida’s Just Care: Messy Entanglements of Disability, Dependency and Desire, Joshua St. Pierre’s Cheap Talk: Disability and the Politics of Communication, and the spring 2022 special issue on ‘Sex Work and Disability’ from Disability Studies Quarterly.

Commentary: A spectrum for all? A response to Green etal. (2023), neurodiversity, autism and health care.

The broadening of the clinical definition of autism over time-the so-called, autism spectrum-has run in parallel with the growth of a neurodiversity movement that has reframed the concept of autism entirely. Without a coherent and evidence-based framework through which both of these advances can be situated, the field is at risk of losing definition altogether. In his commentary, Green describes such a framework, which has appeal because of its grounding in basic and clinical evidence, and its ability to guide its users through its real-world application in health care. An endless spectrum creates barriers to autistic children having their human rights met, but a denial of neurodiversity principles has the same effect. Green's framework holds great promise in coherently framing this sentiment. The real test of the framework is in its implementation, and all communities should walk that path together.

Effective inclusion practices for neurodiverse children and adolescents in informal STEM learning: a systematic review protocol

BackgroundInformal learning experiences in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) can enhance STEM learning that occurs in formal educational settings and curricula as well as generate enthusiasm for considering STEM careers. The aim of this systematic review is to focus on the experiences of neurodiverse students in informal STEM learning. Neurodiversity is a subgroup of neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism, attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and other neurological conditions. The neurodiversity movement regards these conditions as natural forms of human variation, as opposed to dysfunction, and recognizes that neurodiverse individuals possess many strengths relevant to STEM fields.MethodsThe authors will systematically search electronic databases for relevant research and evaluation articles addressing informal STEM learning for K-12 children and youth with neurodiverse conditions. Seven databases and content-relevant websites (e.g., informalscience.org) will be searched using a predetermined search strategy and retrieved articles will be screened by two members of the research team. Data synthesis will include meta-synthesis techniques, depending on the designs of the studies.DiscussionThe synthesis of the findings resulting from various research and evaluation designs, across the K-12 age span, and across various informal STEM learning contexts, will lead to depth and breadth of understanding of ways to improve informal STEM learning programs for neurodiverse children and youth. The identification of informal STEM learning program components and contexts shown to yield positive results will provide specific recommendations for improving inclusiveness, accessibility, and STEM learning for neurodiverse children and youth.Trial registrationThe current study has been registered in PROSPERO. Registration number: CRD42021278618.

Is Autism a Mental Disorder According to the Harmful Dysfunction View?

The supporters of the neurodiversity movement contend that autism is not a mental disorder, but rather a natural human variation. In a recent paper Jerome Wakefi eld, David Wasserman and Jordan Conrad (2020) argued against this view relying on Wakefi eld’s harmful dysfunction theory of mental disorder (the HD theory). Although I argue that the HD theory is problematic, I contend that arguments offered by Wakefi eld et al. (2020) against those of the neurodiversity movement are plausible, except in one respect: their claim that high functioning autism in general is not a disorder is not well supported. I argue instead that the disorder status of high-functioning autistic persons should be judged on a case-by-case basis, depending on the harmfulness of the condition. In this regard, I maintain that the list of basic psychological capacities provided by George Graham (2010) provides an adequate conceptualization of harm. Moreover, I show how this framework may offer an appropriate tool for a case-by-case assessment of harm associated with high-functioning autism.

Evaluation of an Autism Training in a Much-Needed Context: The Case of France.

Autistic people in France have called for community education to reduce autism stigma. As such, training is needed to help university students appreciate autistic peers and autistic people they may work with in their future careers. We adapted an autistic-affirming training from a training developed in other cultural contexts and evaluated it with 107 university students in France using a pretest-post-test design. Questionnaire responses suggested that our brief online training helped improve attitudes toward inclusion, autism knowledge, and stigma among future educators and psychologists in France. Participants' open-ended definitions of autism revealed increased alignment with the neurodiversity movement after training. Findings suggest that wider-scale autistic-led adaptations of autism trainings like the one described in this report could begin to ameliorate autism stigma in France.

Resisting Ableism in School-Based Speech-Language Therapy: An Invitation to Change.

Resisting Ableism in School-Based Speech-Language Therapy: An Invitation to Change.

Imagining Neurodivergent Futures from the Belly of the Identity Machine: Neurodiversity, Biosociality, and Strategic Essentialism.

Several critiques have emerged of the neurodiversity paradigm and of claims made by activists in the Neurodiversity Movement. These critiques include concerns that the Neurodiveristiy movement downplays the differences between Autistic people. In this article, I argue that the neurodiversity paradigm is a strategically adopted response to current realities. Sometimes, it is strategically necessary to appeal to existing narratives about Autism, or to emphasize solidarity within the Autistic community over the autism spectrum's internal diversity. At times, this can lead activists to neglect a more nuanced articulation of the Neurodiversity paradigm, which allows for the diversity of our community while still calling for solidarity in the face of shared experiences of discrimination. I compare this strategy with strategies of strategic essentialism utilized in the Indigenous Rights movement in Canada. I also explore the ways in which discourses of ableism and racism have historically been intertwined. Both Autistic people and Indigenous people represent diverse communities that must grapple with externally imposed identities to access legal rights, and both identities have been denigrated as mentally inferior by non-Autistic and colonial powers. I conclude that it is sometimes necessary to employ these types of strategies to secure needed resources and protections. I call for both scholars and advocates to take a more intersectional approach to understanding how strategic essentialism is being deployed within the Neurodiversity Movement.

AUTISMO, NEURODIVERSIDADE E ESTIGMA: PERSPECTIVAS POLÍTICAS E DE INCLUSÃO

ABSTRACT Movements of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families have been increasing and gaining strength in Brazil and worldwide. The neurodiversity movement understands that autism is part of a person’s personality, not a disease that must be cured. The study addresses the neurodiversity movement in the context of ASD, discussing its relations with scientific evidence. From a theoretical study, we saw that the medical model still seems to be the most adopted in Brazilian research about inclusion, which may influence stigma and negative and distorted views about the differences presented by people with ASD. Among other aspects, the importance of the participation of people with ASD and/or their family members in the development of research related to them is highlighted, seeking to promote scientific and academic practices that listen, respect and be inspired by neurodiversity.

Celebrating Neurodivergence amid Social Injustice

AbstractBurgeoning narratives of neurodivergence increase representation in media, producing an unprecedented visibility and awareness of what it means to be neurodivergent in a neurotypical world. In this article I examine the ways in which a neurodivergent subject position can provide liberatory insights into oppressive patriarchal gender structures, while exploring productive tensions of the histories and lineages of neurodivergence marked by inequities, erasure, and epistemic injustice (Catala et al. 2021). Although self-diagnosis is often accepted among communities, individuals without diagnosis face delegitimization in navigating institutions, accentuating race, class, and gender disparities. How do we honor a lineage of stories of neurodivergent individuals who could not claim this identity, and what does it mean to celebrate neurodiversity and simultaneously hold space and honor the absences marked by intersecting oppressions? Using Maria Lugones's world-traveling as a method, I reflect on these tensions via narratives of my own discovery of neurodivergence and diagnosis, contextualizing it within a larger lineage of neurodivergent family who do not identify as such, as well as my encounters with varying levels of access, privilege, and understanding. I position my autoethnographic analysis against anecdotes and discursive media of the neurodiversity movement, finding that an autistic subject position complicates both femininity and gender.

신경다양성 개념 및 변화에 대한 일고찰

The study finds out the origin and the transition process of the notion of Neurodiversity, which has increased awareness of the Autistic trait and ADHD. The idea of Neurodiversity started in the 1990s, based on humanities and social science backgrounds, thanks to autistics' real-time debates on autistic characteristics worldwide. By the way, the notion counters the theory of mind(ToM). ToM aims to make the world a ‘neuronormal’ society by denying membership to people with Disabilities and creating ‘Autism’ as the cure target. ToM began from evolutionary psychology; deteriorated into a rationalisation tool for proving the mindblindness of autistics for downgrading into non-human by researchers in autism, including Baron-Cohen. As Autistic people refute the theory using Neurodiversity and the Double Empathy Problem(DEP), opponents block the Neurodiversity by distorting or reducing the notion. Nevertheless, a recent proposal that expands Neurodiversity into mental illnesses by 3Oceans is different from the interruption: which gives the possibility of resolving the problems from DEP of autistic people. The study will contribute to a proper understanding of Neurodiversity, Initiatives of the Neurodiversity movement, and new autistic studies in Korea: which could free autistic people resolved from isolation and objectification as the target of service and care.

Building Neurodiversity-Inclusive Postsecondary Campuses: Recommendations for Leaders in Higher Education.

Building Neurodiversity-Inclusive Postsecondary Campuses: Recommendations for Leaders in Higher Education.

Neurodivergence-informed therapy.

The neurodiversity movement is a social movement that emerged among autistic self-advocates. It has since spread and has been joined by many with diagnoses of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, and developmental coordination disorder among others. By reconceptualizing neurodiversity as part of biodiversity, neurodiversity proponents emphasize the need to develop an 'ecological' society that supports the conservation of neurological minorities through the construction of ecological niches-that is, making space for all. This is an alternative to the drive to eliminate diversity through attempts to 'treat' or 'cure' neurodivergence. So far, neurodiversity theory has not been formally adapted for psychotherapeutic frameworks, and it is not the role of the therapist to make systemic changes to societal organization. Still, there is room for fruitfully drawing on a neurodiversity perspective for therapists working with neurodivergent people in clinical settings. Here, we draw on the example of autism and synthesize three key themes to propose the concept of neurodivergence-informed therapy. First, the reconceptualization of dysfunction as relational rather than individual. Second, the importance of neurodivergence acceptance and pride, and disability community and culture to emancipate neurodivergent people from neuro-normativity. Third, the need for therapists to cultivate a relational epistemic humility regarding different experiences of neurodivergence and disablement.

Do Autistic People's Support Needs and Non-Autistic People's Support for the Neurodiversity Movement Contribute to Heightened Autism Stigma in South Korea vs. the US?

We examined stigma towards vignette characters representing diverse autistic characteristics (social, non-speaking, or repetitive interests or restricted behaviors; RIRB) among 259 South Korean and 240 American participants (age range = 18 ~ 74). Within each domain, participants were randomized to read a vignette depicting low or high support needs. Koreans reported greater stigma towards autistic characteristics and less awareness of and support for the neurodiversity movement than Americans. Autistic characters’ support needs and rater characteristics (autism knowledge, neurodiversity endorsement, and contact quantity) predicted stigma in at least one domain, and after accounting for these variables, participants’ nationality was suggestively associated only with stigma towards social characteristics and RIRB. Findings highlight the need for culturally adapted-training that provides contact with diverse autistic people.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10803-022-05739-0.

Autism: A model of neurodevelopmental diversity informed by genomics.

Definitions of autism are constantly in flux and the validity and utility of diagnostic criteria remain hotly debated. The boundaries of autism are unclear and there is considerable heterogeneity within autistic individuals. Autistic individuals experience a range of co-occurring conditions notably including other childhood onset neurodevelopmental conditions such as intellectual disability, epilepsy and ADHD, but also other neuropsychiatric conditions. Recently, the neurodiversity movement has challenged the conception of autism as a medical syndrome defined by functional deficits. Whereas others have argued that autistic individuals with the highest support needs, including those with intellectual disability and limited functional communication, are better represented by a medical model. Genomic research indicates that, rather than being a circumscribed biological entity, autism can be understood in relation to two continua. On the one hand, it can be conceived as lying on a continuum of population variation in social and adaptive functioning traits, reflecting in large part the combination of multiple alleles of small effect. On the other, it can be viewed as lying on a broader neurodevelopmental continuum whereby rare genetic mutations and environmental risk factors impact the developing brain, resulting in a diverse spectrum of outcomes including childhood-onset neurodevelopmental conditions as well as adult-onset psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia. This model helps us understand heterogeneity within autism and to reconcile the view that autism is a part of natural variability, as advocated by the neurodiversity movement, with the presence of co-occurring disabilities and impairments of function in some autistic individuals.