The neurodiversity movement asks a powerful question: what changes when autistic and other neurodivergent people help define their own lives, rather than being discussed only as problems to solve?
Where did it begin?
The ideas developed through conversations among autistic people, including online communities in the 1990s. There is no single founder. Judy Singer’s writing helped bring the concept into academic discussion, while autistic activists and writers were already challenging how autism was described. Research on the movement’s collective origins.
The movement grew alongside disability rights and self-advocacy. People with intellectual disabilities had organised through People First since the 1970s, insisting on being recognised as people who could speak up about their own lives. Later, autistic-led organisations pressed for autistic people to be represented in decisions about autism. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network, founded in 2006, describes its work as part of the wider disability rights movement. People First history; ASAN history.
From attitudes to rights
These movements have different histories and priorities. Their shared challenge is to systems that make decisions about people while excluding them from those decisions. This is a parallel I draw between them, rather than a claim that one movement simply grew out of another.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 2006, expresses a wider shift towards disabled people as rights holders. Its provisions include access to communication, information and education. Article 21 explicitly includes augmentative and alternative communication; Article 24 addresses support and accessible communication in education. Convention history; Article 21; Article 24.
The question I bring to this history
My son James is nonspeaking and has significant learning and support needs. I value a movement that asks us to listen to autistic people. I also need to ask what listening requires when somebody cannot easily use speech, writing or conventional ways of answering.
Who has access to communication tools? Who is offered education without having to demonstrate ability first? Whose preferences are noticed, and how do we check that our interpretation is right? How can a person have more say while still receiving the substantial care they need?
These are questions I bring to the movement as James’ mum. The history offers a foundation; it does not answer them for James. The next part of this site explores communication, learning, agency and the lives of nonspeaking people with high support needs.
