The Neurodiversity Reader: exploring concepts, lived experiences and implications for practice

The Neurodiversity Reader collection brings together work from pioneering figures within and beyond the neurodiversity movement to critically explore its associated concepts and how they might be translated into practice. The concept of neurodiversity can be traced to the late 1990s and the work of the autistic Australian sociologist Judy Singer (1998), with its origins within the autistic rights movement that had begun in earnest some years prior to that. In the 20 years since the inception of the concept, a strong international movement championing the civil rights of those deemed ‘neurodivergent’ from idealised norms has grown, rallying behind the slogan ‘Nothing about us without us’. Alongside this political movement has been an increasing academic interest in the concept of neurodiversity and how such ideas can relate to practice and service provision.

This collection will explore the history of the movement, the concepts that have shaped it, and where the future might lead to. Through a variety of accounts, the relevance and criticisms of these concepts in understanding ourselves and one another will be examined, as well as implications for practice.