Waiting for Discovery and Support?

Metadata sources used for this reference

OpenAlex Crossref
Learn more about the sources used

Wiklund, S. Ö., Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, H., Bagger, A., & Allan, J. (2023). Waiting for Discovery and Support? European Journal of Inclusive Education, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.7146/ejie.v1i1.135517

Publication date: 13 Oct 2023 Added to AutiHub: 4 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
OpenAlex source Publisher source (DOI) Full text

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)
  1. Sofia Österborg Wiklund
  2. Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist *
  3. Anette Bagger
  4. Julie Allan

Abstract

PURPOSE: In this paper, we explore and contrast the Swedish state and NGO arguments for initiating two changes in national educational degree objectives in Swedish teacher education: one regarding sex and cohabitation education, and the other regarding support for pupils with ʻneuropsychiatric difficultiesʼ such as autism and ADHD (here referred to as neurodivergent pupils). APPROACH: Using critical policy analysis, we compare the arguments from the government as well as responding bodies for introducing the two objectives, with a focus on neurodivergent pupils. RESULTS: Our findings suggest that discourses concerning sex and cohabitation education for all pupils and support for pupils with ʻneuropsychiatric difficultiesʼ respectively derive from different educational ideologies and reproduce different ideas about pupils as active citizens versus passive objects of interventions. The objective of sex and cohabitation education is framed within a norm critical discourse putting forward reflexivity and identity, and where pupils are active subjects to be involved in the process. In contrast, neurodivergence is framed within a deficit approach as neurobiological, individual impairment, and a special educational problem that should be managed by professionals. It is seen as a risk for school failure, where neurodivergent pupils are passive objects of professional discovery and support. CONCLUSION: In a Swedish educational policy landscape, stressing the importance of educating pupils in line with ideas of children as right-bearers, our exploration illustrates how ʻall pupilsʼ versus neurodivergent pupils, within teacher education, are positioned as belonging to different categories of citizens: as active subjects of rights, versus passive subjects of care. This perception of neurodivergence, we argue, hampers progress towards embracing neurodivergence as a social category, and neurodivergent pupils as political subjects.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Bibliography inclusion overview

These indicators describe the cited bibliography imported for this publication. Cited-reference metrics use the cited-reference total as denominator. Cited-author metrics state whether they use all cited-author occurrences or only occurrences linked to authors already integrated in the AutiHub database. They use cached links between cited authors and authors integrated in the AutiHub database. Last computed: 16 Aug 2026 11:30.

Cited references
38
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
4 / 38 (10.5%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
4 / 81 (4.9%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 4 / 7 (57.1%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 3 / 79 (3.8%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
7 / 81 (8.6%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 6 / 79 (7.6%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
3 / 7 (42.9%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 3 / 81 (3.7%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 3 / 6 (50.0%).
  1. Edwina H. Yeung , Rajeshwari Sundaram , Erin M. Bell , Charlotte Druschel , Christopher Kus , Akhgar Ghassabian et al. (2016). Examining Infertility Treatment and Early Childhood Development in the Upstate KIDS Study . JAMA Pediatrics, 170(3), 251. American Medical Association (AMA).
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.4164 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W26746435
    OpenAlex
  2. Anna Bredström , Sabine Gruber (2015). Language, Culture and Maternity Care: ‘Troubling’ Interpretation in an Institutional Context . Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 5(2), 58-66. Helsinki University Press.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1515/njmr-2015-0010 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1530666045
    OpenAlex
  3. Loo‐See Beh (2010). Development and Distortion of Malaysian Public‐Private Partnerships – Patronage, Privatised Profits and Pitfalls . Australian Journal of Public Administration, 69(s1). Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8500.2009.00655.x OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1797402740
    OpenAlex
  4. Linnéa Bruno (2015). Contact and Evaluations of Violence: An Intersectional Analysis of Swedish Court Orders . International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 29(2), 167-182. Oxford University Press (OUP).
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1093/lawfam/ebv002 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1902658846
    OpenAlex
  5. Maria Eriksson (2009). Girls and boys as victims: social workers' approaches to children exposed to violence . Child Abuse Review, 18(6), 428-445. Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1002/car.1091 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1964566639
    OpenAlex
  6. Meenakshi Srivastava , Anke de Boer , Sip Jan Pijl (2015). Inclusive education in developing countries: a closer look at its implementation in the last 10 years . Educational Review, 67(2), 179-195. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/00131911.2013.847061 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1967143430
    OpenAlex
  7. Judith Wiener , Meghan Mak (2009). Peer victimization in children with Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder . Psychology in the Schools, 46(2), 116-131. Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1002/pits.20358 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1977025988
    OpenAlex
  8. Dianne L. Ferguson (2008). International trends in inclusive education: the continuing challenge to teach each one and everyone . European Journal of Special Needs Education, 23(2), 109-120. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/08856250801946236 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2016910287
    OpenAlex
  9. Harvey Molloy , Latika Vasil (2002). The Social Construction of Asperger Syndrome: The pathologising of difference? Disability & Society, 17(6), 659-669. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/0968759022000010434 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2051224789
    OpenAlex
  10. Joan Forbes , Elisabet Öhrn , Gaby Weiner (2011). Slippage and/or symbolism: gender, policy and educational governance in Scotland and Sweden . Gender and Education, 23(6), 761-776. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/09540253.2010.527830 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2069408773
    OpenAlex
  11. Sarah Arduin (2015). A review of the values that underpin the structure of an education system and its approach to disability and inclusion . Oxford Review of Education, 41(1), 105-121. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/03054985.2015.1006614 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2090368595
    OpenAlex
  12. Marc Jans (2004). Children as Citizens . Childhood, 11(1), 27-44. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/0907568204040182 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2102739696
    OpenAlex
  13. Christian Bröer , Marjolijn Heerings (2013). Neurobiology in public and private discourse: the case of adults with ADHD . Sociology of Health & Illness, 35(1), 49-65. Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2012.01477.x OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2108300169
    OpenAlex
  15. Anna Bredström (2009). Safe Sex, Unsafe Identities: Intersections of 'Race', Gender and Sexuality in Swedish HIV/AIDS Policy .
    Type: Book OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2162525590
    OpenAlex
  16. Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg (2013). Gender inclusion and horizontal gender segregation: stakeholders' strategies and dilemmas in Swedish teachers' education . Gender and Education, 25(4), 444-465. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/09540253.2013.772566 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2169253497
    OpenAlex
  17. (2014). The ADHD explosion: myths, medication, money, and today's push for performance . Choice Reviews Online, 52(04), 52-2017-52-2017. American Library Association.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.5860/choice.186130 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2314256615
    OpenAlex
  18. Marie Carlson , Tuba Kanci (2017). The nationalised and gendered citizen in a global world – examples from textbooks, policy and steering documents in Turkey and Sweden . Gender and Education, 29(3), 313-331. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/09540253.2016.1143917 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2322700213
    OpenAlex
  19. Venla Oikkonen (2013). Competing Truths . European Journal of English Studies, 17(3), 283-294. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/13825577.2013.867181 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2329137607
    OpenAlex
  20. Mikaela Starke , Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist * , Jari Kuosmanen (2016). Eternal Children? Professionals’ Constructions of Women with an Intellectual Disability Who are Victims of Sexual Crime . Sexuality and Disability, 34(3), 315-328. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/s11195-016-9441-0 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2354059304
    OpenAlex
  21. Rita de Cassia Fernandes Signor , Ana Paula Berberian , Ana Paula Santana (2016). A medicalização da educação: implicações para a constituição do sujeito/aprendiz . Educação e Pesquisa, 43(3), 743-763. FapUNIFESP (SciELO).
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1590/s1517-9702201610146773 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2546835063
    OpenAlex
  22. Steven Carlson , William Frankenberger , Kristina M. Hall , Sara J. Totten , Katarina House (2006). International Perspectives on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Comparison of Teachers in the United States and Sweden . Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals, 107-121. National Association of Special Education Teachers.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.64546/jaasep.12 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2791385819
    OpenAlex
  23. Pia Mikander , Harriet Zilliacus , Gunilla Holm (2018). Intercultural education in transition: Nordic perspectives . Education Inquiry, 9(1), 40-56. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/20004508.2018.1433432 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2792093924
    OpenAlex
  24. Scot Danforth , Phyllis Jones (2015). From Special Education to Integration to Genuine Inclusion . In Foundations of Inclusive Education Research (pp. 1-21). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    Type: Book chapter DOI: 10.1108/s1479-363620150000006014 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2913708339
    OpenAlex
  25. Christina McMellon , E. Kay M. Tisdall (2020). Children and Young People’s Participation Rights: Looking Backwards and Moving Forwards . The International Journal of Children’s Rights, 28(1), 157-182. Walter de Gruyter GmbH.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1163/15718182-02801002 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2994086438
    OpenAlex
  26. Erica Burman (2016). Deconstructing Developmental Psychology . Routledge.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.4324/9781315727127 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3020950746
    OpenAlex
  27. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child . Population and Development Review, 15(4), 779. JSTOR.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.2307/1972615 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3022666920
    OpenAlex
  28. Hala Elhoweris , Ahmed Mohamed , Osha Almuhairy , Rachel Takriti , Najwa Alhosani , Abdelaziz Sartawi (2020). UAE Elementary Teachers’ Use of ADHD Referral and Management Strategies . International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 19(6), 337-352. Society for Research and Knowledge Management.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.26803/ijlter.19.6.20 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3046679416
    OpenAlex
  29. Stephanie Miodus , Maureen A Allwood , Nana Amoh (2021). Childhood ADHD Symptoms in Relation to Trauma Exposure and PTSD Symptoms Among College Students: Attending to and Accommodating Trauma . Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 29(3), 187-196. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/1063426620982624 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3119152883
    OpenAlex
  30. Lotta Björkman , Janne Bromseth , Helena Hill (2021). Normkritisk pedagogik – framväxten och utvecklingen av ett nytt begrepp i den svenska utbildningskontexten . Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk, 7(0), 179. Cappelen Damm AS - Cappelen Damm Akademisk.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.23865/ntpk.v7.2314 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3175234556
    OpenAlex
  31. Helena Hill (2021). ”Normkritisk vaccination” - Normkritik och normkritisk pedagogik i Skolverkets rapporter och råd 2009 – 2014 . Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige, 26(2-3), 38-60. Swedish Educational Research Association.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.15626/pfs26.0203.05 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3202998842
    OpenAlex
  33. Wilson, Clancie (2012). Education in the Black Diaspora . Routledge.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.4324/9780203152973 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4234670103
    OpenAlex
  35. (2021). 10.15626/pfs26.0203 Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige, 26(2-3). Swedish Educational Research Association.
    Type: Other DOI: 10.15626/pfs26.0203 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4243434626
    OpenAlex
  36. Rikke Andreassen , Kathrine Vitus (2016). Affectivity and Race . Routledge.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.4324/9781315565880 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4251623313
    OpenAlex
  37. Norman Fairclough (2013). Critical Discourse Analysis . Routledge.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.4324/9781315834368 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4253414910
    OpenAlex
  38. UNESCO , Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS , United Nations Children's Fund , United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women , World Health Organization (2018). International technical guidance on sexuality education: an evidence-informed approach . UNESCO.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.54675/uqrm6395 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4367362485
    OpenAlex