Autistic adult and non-autistic parent advocates: Bridging the divide

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Gernsbacher, M. A. & Rottier, H. (2020). Autistic adult and non-autistic parent advocates: Bridging the divide [Preprint]. Center for Open Science. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/p62gr

Publication date: 28 Dec 2020 Added to AutiHub: 24 Sep 2026 Type: Preprint Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 2 (50.0%)
  1. Morton Ann Gernsbacher
  2. Helen Rottier *

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 nonautistic parent advocates and offer three principles for building future alliances to bridge the divide between autistic adults and nonautistic parents. Implications: The chapter ends with optimism that US national priorities can bridge previous gulfs, creating space for autistic adult and non-autistic parent advocates to work together in establishing policies and practices that improve life for autistic people and their families and communities.

Related publications

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Published version

Published version associated with this preprint
Autistic Adult and Non-Autistic Parent Advocates: Bridging the Divide
Confirmed Reliability level: Medium Manual

Bibliography cited by this reference

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

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 01:35.

Cited references
45
With a DOI
37
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
0
9 / 45 (20.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 45 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
45 / 45 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
0
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
104
From DOI or external metadata
104
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
46 / 104 (44.2%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 58 / 104 (55.8%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
12 / 104 (11.5%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 12 / 46 (26.1%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 11 / 90 (12.2%).
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