To come the the point, then: Neuroqueer Theory is what emerges when one takes an approach to the topic of neurodiversity that’s based largely in the fields of queer theory and somatic psychology. First, need to be absolutely clear—in our own minds and in our written and spoken discourse—that the pathology paradigm is nothing more than institutionalized bigotry masquerading as science, and that it's illegitimate and harmful in the same ways as racism, misogyny, and other forms of bigotry that have also historically masqueraded as science. Shannon, D. B. and Truman, S. E. (July 2018). Queer the landscape: Walking-songing-researching from Melrose to Lindisfarne. Beyond The Pedestrian. Liverpool, UK.

Dr. Raymaker : I'm familiar with some of these folks but not all; this is a wonderful group for me—and others—to explore more. Would you be willing to push the futurist lens open a little further and describe how you would envision a future in which the neurodiversity paradigm changes the world for the better—what would that look like and what major pitfalls might need to be guarded against? You can push it as far-future as you'd like. Ada Hoffmann is best known so far for the Outside series, which so far includes her first novel The Outside and its sequel The Fallen. It’s going to be at least a trilogy; there’s a third book in the works already. Who knew there were so ma ny of us?! There's been an explosion of awareness about the overlap between the Neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ populations. Yet most neurodivergent support tells us to act "normal", or mask, like a straight, cisgender, white, Americans. Large organizations and institutions have a lot of inertia, so we're not seeing the influence of the neurodiversity paradigm on policy and practice on any large scale yet. I've seen exciting developments on a smaller scale, though, at a more grassroots level of praxis—for example, individual psychotherapists and other professionals, or small organizations, making the shift to the neurodiversity paradigm. And again, there 's that appropriation issue; neurodiversity is a popular buzzword in the tech industry these days, but it usually just means, “How can we more effectively exploit the labor of the autistics who are good at software development?” There's this brilliant sci-fi novel called Hoshi and the Red City Circuit 20 that explores where that sort of thing can lead. Neurodiversity is the diversity of human minds, the infinite variation in neurocognitive functioning within our species. What It Doesn’t Mean:Shannon, D. B. (August 2018). Affect and Neuro-diverse learning in the Early Years: Sound-art as relational pedagogy. Capacious:Affective Inquiry/Making Space. Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Shannon, D.B., Truman, S.E. (2020) 'Problematizing Sound Methods Through Music Research-Creation: Oblique Curiosities.' International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19 Truman, S. E., & Shannon, D. B. (2018). Queer sonic cultures: An affective walking-composing project. Capacious: Journal for Emerging Affect Inquiry. 1(3) (Open Access) In terms of scholarship, discourse, and praxis, there are two basic ways to approach the biopsychosocial phenomenon of neurodiversity. Sometime around 2010, I started referring to these two approaches as the pathology paradigm and the neurodiversity paradigm. 2 Shannon, D. B. (June 2022). Reciprocity as semiosis: Thinking literacy beyond meaning in ‘Intensive Interactions’. Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education.

What It Doesn’t Mean:

Neuroqueer, then, is the idea that individuals who do not to conform to neurotypical standards are neurologically queer, further queering their bodyminds. Queerness begets more queerness. Not everyone who is Neurodivergent neuroqueers, but everyone who neuroqueers is Neurodivergent. Some might question if one might be able to unconsciously neuroqueer, we will explore this further in another article. Shannon, D.B. ' Perversity, precarity, and anxiety: tracing a ‘more precise typology’ of the affect of neuroqueer failure in an in-school research-creation project.' International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, pp. 1-15. Dr. Raymaker : Ha! Speaking of where the neurodiversity paradigm—or the appropriation of it—can lead, that's a perfect segue into talking about the future! As far as where you think we should be going next, what's the most pressing short-term work both in terms of scholarship and practice?

If you're wondering "Am I queer enough?" or "Am I neurodivergent enough?", the answer is: Yes, this space is for you too. Being assigned female at birth while having a boy brain led to 25+ years of my ADHD symptoms presenting more like a typical boy’s. However, because I am female, I was just thought to be a tomboy or rebel and, as a result, nobody ever noticed my struggles trying to keep up with everybody else. I only got diagnosed when I went to grad school in the U.S. and my higher-than-average IQ couldn’t manage school, a part-time job, and taking care of myself.” — An ADDitude Reader This premise remains integral to my conceptions of neuroqueer theory and the practice of neuroqueering. Dr. Raymaker: Are there any people right now who you feel are taking neurodiversity scholarship to this next level, or bringing it into the future in interesting or innovative new ways? What are they bringing to the discourse? The first Neurodiversity Studies handbook was just published in the summer of 2020. 18 I've been rather optimistically talking about “the emergent field of Neurodiversity Studies” since about 2012, so it's delightful to see reality catching up to my optimism. There's going to be a lot more work in this direction emerging over the coming years. As one can tell from the recent examples I've listed, though, part of the intrinsically queer and unruly nature of the neurodiversity paradigm is that it can't be confined within the boundaries of a single field, not even a field of Neurodiversity Studies.

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Shannon, D. B. and Truman, S. E. (April 2023). The Queer Temporal Contours of Alpha Centauri: Mobilising Future-Oriented Nostalgia as a Praxis for Imaging Queerer Worlds Through Musical Fan Fiction. American Educational Research Association (AERA). Chicago, US. Like Raymaker, Hoffmann’s also got a delightful story in Spoon Knife 3, “The Scrape of Tooth on Bone,” which genre-wise might be best described as “neuroqueer steampunk.” It’s an useful term given that, along the spectrum we have more LGTBQIA+ people around in terms of percentage.