On the Misuses of Neurodiversity: Critical Approaches and Counter-Narratives

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Acevedo, S. M. & Stolz, S. (2024). On the Misuses of Neurodiversity: Critical Approaches and Counter-Narratives. Autism in Adulthood, 8(3), 267-274. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2024.0016

Publication date: 5 Dec 2024 Added to AutiHub: 4 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 2 (50.0%)
  1. Sara M. Acevedo *
  2. Suzanne Stolz

Abstract

The concept of neurodiversity has gained wide recognition in mainstream society within the past two decades. As it is now increasingly used in education and clinical settings, its original meaning, which comes from grassroots neurodivergent activism, has been skewed. While initially coined to reclaim the cultural and political dimensions of the neurodivergent experience, moving away from pathologization and deficit-based narratives found in widely used clinical texts like the DSM-V, so-called experts have co-opted the term. These medicalizing discourses and regulatory practices stem from the ideology of White supremacy, the settler colonial structure, and a capitalist system that bolsters the productive, neoliberal citizen archetype. Neurodivergent peoples’ bodyminds disrupt this archetype and what it represents in terms of medicalizing discourses that separate ideal citizens from deficient ones. Feeling threatened, professionals—who reinforce this power relation by administering treatment and intervention—adopt harmful strategies, including separating neurodivergence from disability, to reclaim and legitimize their expertise. Our work examines how the concept of neurodiversity is used to mobilize these strategies and how they impact neurodivergent people seeking affirming care, resources, and community. Drawing from social media and other online resources, we use testimonios and storytelling to analyze the for-profit misappropriation and rebranding of neurodivergent liberatory practices. We then juxtapose these with examples of neurodivergent counter-narratives to illustrate creative forms of resilience. To close, we offer recommendations to professionals who intend to address and re-orient these practices toward harm reduction and, eventually, to support collective liberation.

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 13:57.

Cited references
38
With a DOI
20
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
17
6 / 38 (15.8%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
12 / 38 (31.6%)
References with detected author names
26 / 38 (68.4%)
Without detected author names
12
Without a structured title
10
Without a stable identifier
17
References with raw author names still to review
10
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
38
From DOI or external metadata
38
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
11
15 / 38 (39.5%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 23 / 38 (60.5%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
12 / 38 (31.6%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 12 / 15 (80.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 10 / 36 (27.8%).
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