Autistic community and the neurodiversity movement : stories from the frontline

Abstract

Tis book describes some of the key actions that have defned the autism rights branch of the neurodiversity movement since it organized into a unique community over 20 years ago. Te actions covered are legendary in the autism community and range from “Te Autistic Genocide Clock” through to the “Institute for the Study of the Neurologically Typical”, and famous pieces of work like “Don’t Mourn for Us”. Tese acts have forged new thinking on autism and established the neurodiversity movement as a key force in promoting social change for autistic people. It is primarily autistic activists who have been at the vanguard of the neurodiversity movement. All but two of the 21 contributors to this volume identify as autistic. Te collection describes the biographies and rationale of key activists in their own words, thus the motto of disability rights activism “nothing about us without us” is a guiding tenet for the book. Te phrase (and this volume) are rooted in the concept of standpoint epistemology. A standpoint position claims that authority over knowledge is created through direct experience of a condition or situation. Standpoint epistemology is related to the idea of lay expertise, which is discussed extensively in the sociological literature. So, the book values the experience of autistic people as a source of knowledge about their own plight.