Open Society

This groundbreaking A-Z of neurodiversity provides an accessible and definitive resource for professionals, families, and anyone seeking to better understand the vast landscape of neurodiversity as well as the experiences and potential of neurodivergent people. Covering over 370 terms, the book offers a nuanced understanding of each term’s multifaceted relevance and is structured around seven key categories: Neurodivergent identities, states, and models Emotional and mental health and well-be

AN NPR survey finds that people with disability still find hotels unaccommodating, even 35 years after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Autistic people often face challenges in face-to-face social interactions, especially in unfamiliar or high-stakes situations. Virtual reality has been proposed...

Apparent increases in autism and other forms of neurodivergence are often interpreted as a rise in incidence. Yet demographic expansion, diagnostic broadening, and growing cultural awareness all con

Every few years, the tires on your car wear thin and need to be replaced. But where does that lost tire material go? The answer, unfortunately, is often waterways, where the tiny microplastic particles from the tires’ synthetic rubber carry several chemicals that can transfer into fish, crabs and perhaps even the people who eat them. We are analytical and environmental chemists who are studying ways to remove those microplastics – and the toxic chemicals

Are They Neurodivergent - Autism, ADHD, And Other Neurodivergent History · Episode

Mental health issues are often approached through a negative, blanketing lens that creates stigma for those diagnosed with psychological disorders. To contribute to the spread of mental health awareness, people experiencing mental distress need to present their stories to demonstrate they are not insignificant and are worthy of humanization. Writing about one’s experiences helps them heal from their painful past and find meaning in life. Three of Emily Dickinson’s poems have also been analyzed with regard to the mental distress represented in each, and the author presents three of their own poems to show similarities in the ideas expressed between two people experiencing psychological distress. A better understanding of those who suffer from mental distress is provided through the inclusion and abstraction of Dickinson’s poems and personal narrative. The comparison of the author to renowned poet Emily Dickinson shows psychological disorders should not define people as they are still capable of making significant contributions to society.

In honour of International Women’s Day 2025, I wanted to shine a light on the women throughout history who may have been autistic—women whose brilliance, creativity, and resilience shaped the world.

Despite the developments being made in the realm of higher education in providing space and accommodations for Neurodivergent and Neuroqueer learners, the ableist foundations of these academic institutions still maintain an active, albeit masked, role within the lived experiences of Neuroqueer individuals in academia. This operative role of ableism in higher education disempowers such learners from pursuing academic accommodations which would otherwise greatly influence classroom contributions and even, in some cases, discourages them from continuing their educational pursuits. Within this essay, I investigate the ways in which ableism maintains its active role in academia and suggest policies and pedagogies which can be enacted to obliterate the presence of academic ableism. Additionally, I examine through critical analysis of various Neurodivergent poets the ways in which poetry functions as modes of self-empowerment, self-compassion, and resistance for Neuroqueer learners in the face of oppression and otherization. My findings reveal that Neuroqueer individuals find the contemporary process of obtaining accommodations through biographic mediation to be dehumanizing and resulting in very lackluster accommodations. I suggest that autobiographical mediation with personalized accommodations made by the Neuroqueer individuals themselves, as opposed to the institution, will result in greater agency and participation both within and outside the classroom setting. Furthermore, my research affirms that creating and engaging with poetry strengthens Neuroqueer social skills, including competency in self-advocacy, which, in turn, fosters feelings of self-empowerment, self-compassion, and a drive to resist oppression, marginalization, and otherization. By dismantling policies which actively stigmatize and oppress Neuroqueerness, replacing them with policies of a more humanizing approach, and teaching poetry as a means of fostering skills of self-advocacy, we will not only see a tremendous increase in Neuroqueer graduates from higher education, but we will additionally see a shift in the broader perception of Neuroqueerness; transforming visions revolving around “deficits” and “difficulties” into unique capabilities and bold, unyielding individuality.

Angela Frederick’s new book calls to put disability at the center of disaster planning.

Neurosupremacy and Hierarchies Within The Neurodivergent Community

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One of the largest and most authoritative collections of online journals, books, and research resources, covering life, health, social, and physical sciences.

Neurodiversity Affirming Practice: Core Principles Neurodiversity Affirming Practice is a framework for working with and supporting neurodivergent individuals. It is a framework grounded in the …

Purpose Recommendations concerning the language used to describe autism center primarily around preferences for person-first language (PFL; e.g., person with autism) or identity-first language (IFL; e.g.., autistic person). Empirical research on this topic has recently proliferated, yet there is no clear consensus. In this study, we systematically reviewed prior research on the autistic community’s language preferences. Methods Our search generated 2483 articles. Nineteen studies (N = 6350) quantitatively assessed autistic people’s perspectives of autism language terms. We extracted data regarding most preferred terms and terms deemed acceptable for use. Results All studies were conducted online. Fourteen assessed preferred terminology; 10 found that more participants preferred IFL than PFL, though there was also considerable PFL endorsement (4–39% of participants) in these studies. Two studies that found a preference for PFL over IFL were conducted in Dutch. When able to choose “no preference/either” (6 studies), 4–37% of participants chose this option. Seven studies assessed acceptable terms; IFL terms were endorsed as acceptable by ~ 40–97% of participants, PFL terms by 5–53%, and “on the spectrum” by 8–45%. Across studies, participants were not representative of the entire autism spectrum (e.g., likely few participants with intellectual disability). Conclusion Study results vary widely and suggest no consensus as to whether individuals with autism prefer IFL or PFL, neither across nor necessarily even within cultures and languages. We present several considerations for members of the autism community (e.g., researchers, clinicians, etc.) regarding use of PFL and IFL, with the ultimate goal of ensuring individual preferences are respected.

Autism researchers can be ableist, including by talking about autistic people in sub-human terms (dehumanisation), treating autistic people like objects (obj...

T.C. Waisman, Monique Botha, and Wenn Lawson—three deeply compassionate autistic experts—on navigating the world while autistic.

Self-compassion in autism. Being kind and caring for yourself and your mental healthW. Lawson1, P. Vermeulen21Curtin University, Allied Health, Perth, Austra...

Your Personal Self-Compassion Scores As taken on Your Overall Score:  Average overall scores tend to be around 3.0 on this 1-5 scale, so you can interpret your overall score accordingly. […]

Many autistic people love Christmas, but for others the festive period can be stressful and overwhelming. Find advice and helpful tips on how to make Christmas a more enjoyable experience for everyone.

Advice and insight from a former teacher with Asperger Syndrome

I've seen a few parents and carers talking about Christmas festivities and other festivals, and how important it is to them to make their au...

In this article Kieran Rose looks at why there is no such thing as SEND in UK Education and addresses the harm casued by SEND narratives.