Autistic Adult and Non-Autistic Parent Advocates: Bridging the Divide

Abstract

Purpose: Due to the developmental nature of autism, which is often diagnosed in preschool or elementary school-aged children, non-autistic parents of autistic children typically play a prominent role in autism advocacy. However, as autistic children become adults and adult diagnoses of autism continue to rise, autistic adults have played a more prominent role in advocacy. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the histories of adult and non-autistic parent advocacy in the United States and to examine the points of divergence and convergence.Approach: Because of their different perspectives and experiences, advocacy by autistic adults and non-autistic parents can have distinctive goals and conflicting priorities. Therefore, the approach we take in the current chapter is a collaboration between an autistic adult and a non-autistic parent, both of whom are research scholars. Findings:The authors explore the divergence of goals and discourse between autistic self-advocates and non-autistic parent advocates and offer three principles for building future alliances to bridge the divide between autistic adults and non-autistic parents.

Annual Research Review: Shifting from ‘normal science’ to neurodiversity in autism science

“…That change is reflected in advocacy (e.g. Ne’eman & Bascom, 2020; Rottier & Gernsbacher, 2020), in the media and public debate (e.g. Silberman, 2015), and in arguments about the nature of autism science itself (e.g.…”

Neurodiversity as Politics

“…For better or worse, if neurodiversity refers simply to the fact of neurological variation, there is no inherent reason for the term not to be used in association with efforts to cure or prevent autism or other similar neurological disabilities. Similarly, this descriptive neurodiversity is perfectly consistent with advertising analogizing autism or other similar conditions as akin to death or kidnapping, precisely the type of messaging the movement sought to combat in its early years (Heilker & Yergeau, 2011;Kras, 2010;Rottier & Gernsbacher, 2020). If the term neurodiversity has no normative implications, there is no basis to object to the way it is deployed in such contexts.…”