Phenomenology of Neurodiversity: How Neurological Difference Expands Our Understanding of Being Human
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Authors
Robinson, Melinda Leslie
Date
2025-10-03
Type
thesis
Language
eng
Keyword
Neurodiversity , Critical phenomenology , Autism , ADHD
Alternative Title
Abstract
Neurocognitive conditions like autism and ADHD, are increasingly shifting from diagnostic categories into identities based on a shared experience of neurocognitive difference. The neurodiversity movement seeks to push back against the idea that there is a “neurotypical” human norm, and that deviation from this norm is pathological. Instead, neurodiversity advocates see neurodivergence as a product of social conditions: people with certain neurocognitive and behavioural profiles face exclusion and disablement due to lack of support and accommodation within normative social frameworks. This has led to changes in how conditions like autism are understood, not just within neurodivergent communities, but also within the psychomedical literature. In order to generate more inclusive research, psychologists have turned to phenomenological research methods which attempt to capture first-personal experiences of living with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, etc. There are two separate but interrelated phenomenological practices that contribute to the generation of knowledge about the first-personal experience of being neurodivergent. The first generates knowledge within neurodivergent communities. The second generates knowledge within the domain of research psychology, often in response to criticisms arising within neurodivergent communities. In this paper, I draw on the tension between these two practices in order to describe the potentials and limitations of phenomenology as a means of revealing neurodivergent ontologies.
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