Autism as a Natural Human Variation: Reflections on the Claims of the Neurodiversity Movement

Jaarsma, Pier; Welin, Stellan

doi:10.1007/s10728-011-0169-9

Cited by 371 publications

(289 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Previous research has noted that some autistic individuals take pride in their differences and in neurodiversity (Humphrey & Lewis, 2008;Hurlbutt & Chalmers, 2002;Jaarsma & Welin, 2012;Robertson, 2009). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘I am who I am’: Reputation concerns in adolescents on the autism spectrum

Cage

Bird

Pellicano

2016

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Background: Adolescence is often characterised by an increased concern for one's reputation in typical development. The extent to which autistic adolescents are concerned for their reputation, however, is unclear.Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 autistic adolescents and five members of school staff to examine reputation concerns in autism. Topics discussed included being 'cool', friendships, worries and self-concepts.Results: Thematic analysis revealed that autistic adolescents were sometimes concerned about their reputation, although many reported that they did not want to be cool. Instead, they preferred to be true to themselves and struggled to understand the rules of being cool. Adolescents' difficulties in coping with unpredictability also contributed to their understanding of social rules. Findings were supported by the responses of school staff. Conclusions:This study suggests that autistic adolescents can be concerned about their reputation, with some wishing to be accepted for having a reputation for being different.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘I am who I am’: Reputation concerns in adolescents on the autism spectrum

Cage

Bird

Pellicano

2016

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

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“…AS might seem an obvious adaptive strategy, particularly with many arguing for the condition as a difference rather than a disorder (Jaarsma and Welin 2012). However, identifying the evolutionary dynamics of AS has been hampered by the conflation of AS and autism with other impairments including intellectual disability.…”

Section: Variable Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are there alternative adaptive strategies to human pro-sociality? The role of collaborative morality in the emergence of personality variation and autistic traits

2016

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Selection pressures to better understand others' thoughts and feelings are seen as a primary driving force in human cognitive evolution. Yet might the evolution of social cognition be more complex than we assume, with more than one strategy towards social understanding and developing a positive pro-social reputation? Here we argue that social buffering of vulnerabilities through the emergence of collaborative morality will have opened new niches for adaptive cognitive strategies and widened personality variation. Such strategies include those that that do not depend on astute social perception or abilities to think recursively about others' thoughts and feelings. We particularly consider how a perceptual style based on logic and detail, bringing certain enhanced technical and social abilities which compensate for deficits in complex social understanding could be advantageous at low levels in certain ecological and cultural contexts. 'Traits of autism' may have promoted innovation in archaeological material culture during the late Palaeolithic in the context of the mutual interdependence of different social strategies, which in turn contributed to the rise of innovation and large scale social networks. ARTICLE HISTORY

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“…The central example is autism, but wherever it is applied, a neurodiversity perspective seeks to redefine a diagnostic category primarily as a set of cognitive differences. The features that are used to identify the category are understood to be atypical, but not intrinsically dysfunctional (Jaarsma and Welin 2012).…”

Section: Neurodiversity and Mental Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Oxford Handbook of Psychiatric Ethics, Volume 1

Staden¹,

Fulford²,

Sadler³

2014

Oxford Handbooks Online

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and KeywordsIn this chapter, our focus is the role played by notions of rationality in the diagnosis of mental disorders, and in the practice of overriding patient autonomy in psychiatry. We describe and evaluate different hypotheses concerning the relationship between rationality and diagnosis, raising questions about what features underpin psychiatric categories. These questions reinforce widely held concerns about the use of diagnosis as a justification for overriding autonomy, which have motivated a shift to mental incapacity as an alternative justification. However, this approach too has recently been criticized from a mental disability rights perspective. Our analysis of the relationship between mental capacity and rationality is used to illuminate these concerns, and to investigate further the relationship between rationality and psychiatric diagnosis.

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Autism as a Natural Human Variation: Reflections on the Claims of the Neurodiversity Movement

Abstract: Neurodiversity has remained a controversial concept over the last decade. In its 1 broadest sense the concept of neurodiversity regards atypical neurological development as a 2 normal human difference. The neurodiversity claim contains at least two different aspects. 3

Cited by 371 publications

References 20 publications

‘I am who I am’: Reputation concerns in adolescents on the autism spectrum

‘I am who I am’: Reputation concerns in adolescents on the autism spectrum

Are there alternative adaptive strategies to human pro-sociality? The role of collaborative morality in the emergence of personality variation and autistic traits

The Oxford Handbook of Psychiatric Ethics, Volume 1

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