Neurodiversity Before the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

We review the role of the treaty bodies in the UN system to demonstrate their potential in protecting human rights. We then discuss the disability rights and justice movement and the subsequent movement for neurodiversity rights to foreground the core issues that emerge in the discussion of communications before the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We identify core tenants of the neurodiversity movement that are central to the decisions of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We then discuss the cases brought by neurodivergent petitioners. Our focus here is on the ability of the CRPD to receive individual complaints from people in ratifying states who believe that their rights arising out of the treaty have been violated. These individual complaints brought by individuals against their governments in an international venue can serve as a catalyst to pressure states to make significant changes in their domestic human rights practices. We conclude with our analysis of the potential impact of the CRPD and suggestions for future work.