Neurodiversity Studies: A New Critical Paradigm (Routledge Advances in Sociology)

Building on work in feminist studies, queer studies and critical race theory, this volume challenges the universality of propositions about human nature, by questioning the boundaries between predominant neurotypes and ‘others’, including dyslexics, autistics and ADHDers.

This is the first work of its kind to bring cutting-edge research across disciplines to the concept of neurodiversity. It offers in-depth explorations of the themes of cure/prevention/eugenics; neurodivergent wellbeing; cross-neurotype communication; neurodiversity at work; and challenging brain-bound cognition. It analyses the role of neuro-normativity in theorising agency, and a proposal for a new alliance between the Hearing Voices Movement and neurodiversity. In doing so, we contribute to a cultural imperative to redefine what it means to be human. To this end, we propose a new field of enquiry that finds ways to support the inclusion of neurodivergent perspectives in knowledge production, and which questions the theoretical and mythological assumptions that produce the idea of the neurotypical.

Working at the crossroads between sociology, critical psychology, medical humanities, critical disability studies, and critical autism studies, and sharing theoretical ground with critical race studies and critical queer studies, the proposed new field – neurodiversity studies – will be of interest to people working in all these areas.

Chapter 7 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist is an Associate Professor in Sociology and currently a Senior Lecturer in Social work at Södertörn University. Her recent research is around autism, identity politics, and sexual, gendered and age normativity. She is the former Chief Editor of Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research.

Nick Chown is a book indexer who undertakes autism research in his spare time. His recent publication is Understanding and Evaluating Autism Theory (2016). He has reviewed for the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, written various academic articles, and led a team studying support for autistic students in the UK.

Anna Stenning is a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Bath Spa University. Her current research focuses on literary representations of autism, and intersections between disability studies and environmental justice. She is also a co-editor, with David Borthwick and Pippa Marland, of Walking, Landscape and Environment (2019).