This paper argues that neurodiversity was not invented by a single person, but developed collectively by autistic activists and communities through discussion and lived experience in the 1990s. Academic and journalistic figures later documented, named, and popularized the idea, but they did not originate it. Confusing documentation with creation erases the people whose lives and labor built the concept in the first place.
botha-et-al-2024-the-neurodiversity-concept-was-developed-collectively-an-overdue-correction-on-the-origins-of.pdf169.9 KiB