Behind the Curtain: Recommendations for Neurodiversity Research

Researchers have explored neurodiversity in terms of gender, gender identity and expression, masking, and more, yet the focus is often on neurodiversity as synonymous with autism. There remains a challenge to expand the body of neurodiversity research that is broader than autism. In my article, neurodiversity will be discussed as an element of the broad human condition, rather than a singular state or condition of impairment isolated to a portion of the population to delineate the paradigm based on neurological variations from medical and social models. This paper was designed to offer a “how to” for conducting research into neurodiversity through an appreciative lens as it serves as an element of human intersectionality, using individual narrative research designs such as autoethnography and Personal Network Analysis (PNA) as tools for inquiry. The potential value of such research is that it may result in calls to action for researchers, practitioners, and educators that serve to lift neurodiversity by gathering stories directly from neurodiverse people to show the common nature of experience shared by all.