A Brief History of the Neurodiversity Movement

By Xander Evans

The Neurodiversity Movement is a movement which asserts the human rights of anyone outside of the neurotypical spectrum (essentially, anyone who would be deemed “normal” by society at large). The term “neurodiversity” originated in 1997, created by autistic sociologist Judy Singer as a political term meant to invoke the same feelings as other civil rights movements. The term is not exclusive to a single disability, though it generally focuses on those with autism, and the larger movement is described by Singer as “a political movement for people who want their human rights” [1]. The movement is led very visibly by those on the autism spectrum and asserts the humanity of neurodivergent people and their right to respect, and can largely be traced back to the early days of disability and autism advocacy, which rarely gave those with mental disabilities platforms. The Neurodivergent Movement rose from a history of people speaking over neurodivergent people, asserting that they are not people to be pitied and deserve the same human rights afforded to everyone else.

The Neurodiversity Movement has its roots in the early Disability Rights movement, one of a series of civil rights movements that emerged in the 1960s borrowed heavily from the black civil rights and anti-Vietnam movements. At its inception, activism for people with disabilities was generally very broad, with major activism lumping a myriad of disabilities both mental and physical into one larger umbrella [2]. The early disability rights movement was broad, and much of its public focus was on the physically disabled, rather than the mentally disabled. Most autism advocacy was led by and centered around those without autism, leading to a perception of autism as a tragic diagnosis. Autism advocacy in the 1980s and 1990s took a decidedly ableist slant, viewing anyone diagnosed with autism as something to be pitied and an autism diagnosis as something akin to a terrible disease.  Activist Jim Sinclair, an autistic activist, took to countering this narrative. With works such as “Don’t Mourn for Us,” Sinclair pushed back against parents who saw their child’s autism as something tragic, and that people with autism simply cannot relate to “normal” people [3].  This theme, while it predates the name “Neurodiversity Movement,” is critical to the movement. While the primary focus of Jim Sinclair’s advocacy was people with autism, the assertion of human rights and respect to all neurodivergent people is a cornerstone of the Neurodiversity Movement.

Autistic advocacy centered by autistic people was primarily based online and still maintains a strong online presence. Websites like Autistics.org, which was created by an autistic activist who sought to create a safer place online for other autistics on the internet, sprang up to educate parents and provide emotional support for autistic people [4]. The internet allowed autistic people to meet and communicate without needing to play the game of social interaction that many with autism (and let’s face it, even neurotypical people) can struggle with. Online forums meant autistic people could communicate “freed from the constraints of [neurotypical] timing, [neurotypical] ways of interpreting body language, free from the information overwhelm of eye contact, the energy demands of managing body language.” Computers and online spaces helped autistic people communicate, removing social complexities and relying on very simple displays of information and rule-based decision making [5]. The internet provided autistics with a place that they could talk to each other and find community and communicate with the wider neurotypical world free of obstacles. 

In 1997, Judy Singer created introduced the term “neurodiversity” in her thesis entitled Odd People In: The Birth of Community amongst people on the Autistic Spectrum: A personal exploration of a New Social Movement based on Neurological Diversity and reintroduced it to a wider audience in the chapter of the 1998s book Disability Discourse.  These writings were meant to, in Singers words: “to draw attention to the exciting new perspectives I was discovering from the dawning of a new type of disability, the “Autistic Spectrum Disorders”. A class of people hitherto marginalized as eccentrics and social outcasts were starting to fight back against the exclusion and mistreatment - from ridicule to active bullying - that had been their lot. They identified as having a “hardwired” neurological difference, not a personality flaw that was their own fault, nor a psychological problem caused by bad parenting” [6]. Singer drew upon the activism of people like Jim Sinclair as well as scientists like Lorna Wing and Tony Attwood to encourage people to focus on minority rights rather than medical treatment. Much to Singer’s delight, the term has become applicable to people with disabilities ranging from bipolar disorder to epilepsy to Tourette’s to schizophrenia, branching out heavily from its original focus on autism and Asperger’s [7].  

Current neurodiversity activism continues to assert the humanity of neurodivergents while also branching into new avenues of activism. Autistic activist Amythest Schaber focuses her activism on education, using her YouTube channel to educate people on autistic terminology and behaviors.  Elanor Longden represents the UK based group Hearing Voices Network, which focuses on destigmatizing, research, and support for those who experience intense auditory hallucinations [7]. The Labour Party in the United Kingdom, thanks to the work of activists like Monique Craine, launched a manifesto in the late 2016 that commits the part to promoting equality and inclusion for neurodivergent people. This manifesto was created with the input of numerous neurodiversity groups and committed the Labour Party to creating a UK that is friendly to neurodivergent people [8]. Activists such as Morénike Giwa Onaiwu have been pushing for a more intersectional look at neurodiversity, publishing a 2017 anthology alongside other autistic activists of color entitled All the Weight of Our Dreams: On Living Racialized Autism. The primary aim of the book was to bring autistic voices of color to the forefront and allow contributors to define themselves on their own terms, just as Jim Sinclair did in the 1990s [9].  

The Neurodiversity Movement is a very recent civil rights movement. It is not focused on “curing” anything nor is research into the functions of mental disabilities is not placed front and center.  The movement seeks to improve the lives of neurodivergent people by decreasing social stigma and increasing social and legal rights and protections that would help them live their lives as independent people. Advocacy for the disabled is not new, the insistence on neurodivergent people as people deserving of human rights and compassion rather than pity is an evolution of long standing activists trends. It is what drives all neurodiversity groups, including 3DA, to stand up for people’s rights and humanity.

[1]  Reed, Betsy.  (2025, July 5).  “The Mother of Neurodiversity: how Judy Singer changed the world.”  The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/05/the-mother-of-neurodiversity-how-judy-singer-changed-the-world Accessed 16 Jan. 2025

[2] Scotch, Richard K. “Politics and Policy in the History of the Disability Rights Movement.” The Milbank Quarterly 67 (1989): 380–400. https://doi.org/10.2307/3350150.

[3] Pripas-Kapit, S. (2020). “Historicizing Jim Sinclair’s “Don’t Mourn for Us”: A Cultural and Intellectual History of Neurodiversity’s First Manifesto.” In: Kapp, S. (eds) Autistic Community and the Neurodiversity Movement. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8437-0_2

[4] Tisoncik, L.A. (2020). “Autistics.Org and Finding Our Voices as an Activist Movement.” In: Kapp, S. (eds) Autistic Community and the Neurodiversity Movement. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8437-0_5

[5] Singer, Judy. (1999) “’Why can’t you just be normal for once in your life?’  From a ‘problem with no name’ to the emergence of a new category of difference.” In: Disability Discourse. Buckingham: Philedalphia, PA: Open University Press

[6] Singer, Judy. NeuroDiversity: The Birth of an Idea (p. 9). Kindle Edition.

[7] Tougaw, Jason.  (2020, Apr 18).  “Neurodiversity: The Movement.”  Psychology Todayhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-elusive-brain/202004/neurodiversity-the-movement Accessed 16 Jan. 2025

[8] Craine, M. (2020). “Changing Paradigms: The Emergence of the Autism/Neurodiversity Manifesto.” In: Kapp, S. (eds) Autistic Community and the Neurodiversity Movement. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8437-0_19

[9] Giwa Onaiwu, M. (2020). “’A Dream Deferred’ No Longer: Backstory of the First Autism and Race Anthology.” In: Kapp, S. (eds) Autistic Community and the Neurodiversity Movement. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8437-0_18