Neurodiversity Studies Building on work in feminist studies, queer studies, and critical race theory, this vol• ume 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; neu• rodiversity 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 assump• tions that produce the idea of the neurotypical. Working at the crossroads between sociology, critical psychology, medical humani• ties, 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. 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 the University of Leeds. Her current research focuses on literary repre• sentations 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). Routledge Advances in Sociology 281 Children in Social Movements Rethinking Agency, Mobilization and Rights Diane M. Rodgers 282 The Global Citizenship Nexus Critical Studies Edited by Debra D. Chapman,Tania Ruiz-Chapman and Peter Eglin 283 People, Care and Work in the Home Edited by Mohamed Gamal Abdelmonem and Antonio Argandona 284 Europe In Love Binational Couples and Cosmopolitan Society Juan Díez Medrano 285 Neurodiversity Studies A New Critical Paradigm Edited by Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Nick Chown, and Anna Stenning 286 The Class Structure of Capitalist Societies Volume 1: A Space of Bounded Variety Will Atkinson 287 Studies on the Social Construction of Identity and Authenticity Edited by J. Patrick Williams and Kaylan C. Schwarz For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ Routledge-Advances-in-Sociology/book-series/SE0511 Neurodiversity Studies A New Critical Paradigm Edited by Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Nick Chown and Anna Stenning First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park,Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 selection and editorial matter, Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Nick Chown and Anna Stenning; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Nick Chown and Anna Stenning to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. With the exception of Chapter 7, no part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Chapter 7 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record has been requested for this book ISBN: 978-0-367-33831-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-32229-7 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear ‘My [autistic] personhood is intact. My selfhood is undamaged. I find great value and meaning in my life, and I have no wish to be cured of being myself’ (Sinclair 1992, p. 302).1 Note 1 Sinclair, J. (1992). Bridging the gaps: An inside-out view of autism. In: E. Shopler & G. B. Mesibov (Eds.), High-functioning individuals with autism (pp. 294–302). Boston, MA: Springer. Contents Notes on contributors x Acknowledgements xiv Introduction 1 HANNA BERTILSDOTTER ROSQVIST, ANNA STENNING, AND NICK CHOWN PART I Curing neurodivergence/eugenics 13 1 The production of the ‘normal’ child: neurodiversity and the commodification of parenting 15 MITZI WALTZ 2 Language games used to construct autism as pathology 27 NICK CHOWN 3 Is there an ethical case for the prevention and/or cure of autism? 39 VIRGINIA BOVELL PART II Neurodivergent wellbeing 55 4 Neurodiversity, disability, wellbeing 57 ROBERT CHAPMAN viii Contents 5 Neurodiversity in a neurotypical world: an enactive framework for investigating autism and social institutions 73 ALAN JURGENS PART III Cross-neurotype communication 89 6 Neurodiversity and cross-cultural communication 91 ALYSSA HILLARY 7 Understanding empathy through a study of autistic life writing: on the importance of neurodivergent morality 108 ANNA STENNING 8 Sensory strangers: travels in normate sensory worlds 125 DAVID JACKSON-PERRY, HANNA BERTILSDOTTER ROSQVIST, JENN LAYTON ANNABLE AND MARIANTHI KOURTI PART IV Neurodiversity at work 141 9 Practical scholarship: optimising beneficial research collaborations between autistic scholars, professional services staff, and ‘typical academics’ in UK universities 143 NICOLA MARTIN 10 Designing an autistic space for research: exploring the impact of context, space, and sociality in autistic writing processes 156 HANNA BERTILSDOTTER ROSQVIST, LINDA ÖRULV, SERENA HASSELBLAD, DENNIS HANSSON, KIRKE NILSSON, AND HAJO SENG 11 How individuals and institutions can learn to make room for human cognitive diversity: a personal perspective from my life in neuroscience 172 MATTHEW K. BELMONTE Contents ix PART V Challenging brain-bound cognition 191 12 Understanding autistic individuals: cognitive diversity not theoretical deficit 193 INÊS HIPÓLITO, DANIEL D. HUTTO, AND NICK CHOWN PART VI Moving forwards 211 13 Neuronormativity in theorising agency: an argument for a critical neurodiversity approach 213 DIEUWERTJE DYI HUIJG 14 Defining neurodiversity for research and practice 218 ROBERT CHAPMAN 15 A new alliance? The Hearing Voices Movement and neurodiversity 221 AKIKO HART 16 Neurodiversity studies: proposing a new field of inquiry 226 HANNA BERTILSDOTTER ROSQVIST, ANNA STENNING, AND NICK CHOWN Index 230 Contributors Matthew K. Belmonte is a neuroscientist, and the brother and uncle of two peo• ple with autism. His research explores the brain physiology that underlies autis• tic cognitive traits in people with autism spectrum conditions, in their family members, and in the general population. His work has shown that some of the same factors that produce autism also underlie human cognitive diversity in general; in this sense, people with autism can be said to be ‘human, but more so’. Belmonte has worked within (and in a couple of cases been run out of!) institutions including the University of California San Diego, the University of Cambridge, Cornell University, and the National Brain Research Centre (India). He is the recipient of a 2009 US National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award, the 2010 Neil O’Connor Award from the British Psychological Society, a 2011 Fulbright-Nehru fellowship, and a 2018 NHS Research for Patient Benefit grant. Virginia Bovell was a social policy researcher at London School of Economics before giving up paid work to care for her autistic son. She has campaigned and written on a range of education, social, and policy issues with regard to autism and learning disability. In 2015 she was awarded a doctorate by Oxford University for her research into the ethical challenges posed by attempts to prevent and/or cure autism. Robert Chapman is currently a Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow at the Univer• sity of Bristol, where he leads the Health and Wellbeing for a Neurodiverse Age project. Prior to this he taught at the University of Bristol and Kings College London, and wrote his doctoral thesis on the ethics of autism at the University of Essex. Dennis