Monique Botha

Thank you!

Also, lol, I am not surprised where I loaded on to any of the factors.

We found broad agreement, too:
✅ Neurodiversity is "real": biological, political, and cultural
✅ Society needs to change
✅ Neurotypical norms aren’t neutral
✅ We need to centre neurodivergent voices: but those voices are not uniform

What made this work powerful wasn’t just the Q methodology (though it's pretty great), but the reflexive, collective process behind it. We met regularly as a collective or smaller groups. We challenged each other. We listened. Crucially: we didn’t need consensus to have clarity.

But others had very different takes.
→ Some were cautious about over-politicisation.
→ Some emphasised scientific validity.
→ Some wanted pragmatic, achievable steps for support.
And all of these perspectives? Came from neurodivergent people.

There was considerable variation in the factors around issues - where I most often loaded was around the "radical" factors which argued that:

→ Neurodiversity is inherently political
→ Capitalism & pathology are linked
→ We need intersectional, collective action

Pink to yellow fade background. Beige text box reads: Set 2: Prescriptions of Neurodiversity Factor 1) Proudly support neurodivergent people’s rights to what we need to be active and productive members of society. Factor 2) Neurodiversity as a radical movement for broad based societal change in alliance with other progressive political activists. Factor 3) Neurodiversity as a movement for genuine social inclusion.

There were three prescriptions based on core factors:
1️⃣ Advocate for neurodivergent people’s rights to thrive
2️⃣ Push for radical social change in solidarity with other activist movements
3️⃣ Promote genuine social inclusion (esp. in education & community)

Pink to yellow fade background. Beige text box reads: Set 1: Understandings of Neurodiversity Factor 1) Neurodiversity as a social justice movement. Factor 2) Recognition of the rights of neurodivergent individuals as beneficial to society Factor 3) Neurodiversity based on scientific knowledge about different types of, equally valid, mind.

For what is neurodiversity:

We found 3 factors of understandings of what the neurodiversity movement is which people loaded onto:
💥 Social justice movement
🌈 Rights-based co-existence
🧪 Scientific recognition of different minds

4. Pink to yellow fade background. Beige text box reads: Findings. The ‘propositions’ fell into two neat categories: ‘What is neurodiversity?’ (We called this set ‘Understandings’) ‘What should the neurodiversity movement do?’ (We called this set ‘Prescriptions’) Within both sets, we discovered a range of perspectives (‘factors’), with some overlap...

We organised the statements two categories of "what is neurodiversity" and "what should the neurodiversity movement do" and then analysed how participant-researchers organised the statements within these categories. This gave statistical results which we analysed as a group

Pink to yellow fade background. Beige text box reads: How. This study used Q Methodology : a research approach that uncovers the range of viewpoints people hold. Participant-researchers ranked over 200 statements (‘propositions’) about neurodiversity, then use statistical analysis to group similar patterns together. Text in brackets, below, reads: It ends up looking like this. Bendy arrow points to a small black and white arrangement of boxes with text inside – too small to read. Image is for illustrative purposes.

We created, the clarified and filtered more than 200 statements down to about 100, and then split those statements and ranked them. We were both the researchers and participants.

Pink to yellow fade background. Beige text box reads: Who. 10 neurodivergent researchers from a range of research backgrounds What. We wanted to explore and categorize the diverse perspectives within the neurodivergent community regarding the purpose and direction of the neurodiversity movement. Behind the text box is a partly-visible image of the published academic article. You can just make out the title, very small. The image is for illustrative and decorative purposes.

We formed a collective of neurodivergent researchers (autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, dyspraxic, and more) to study our own perspectives with care, with transparency, and with methodological rigour and a focus on deep subjectivity. This wasn’t easy. Or comfortable. And it was slow!

the geogrophies of the space of neurodiversity! We talk about neurodiversity a lot, but we rarely stop to ask: are we even talking about the same thing? We all have our perspectives, and rarely is the actual conversation about what we mean when we say "this is what it is to me"

1. Pink to yellow fade background. Small beige text box reads ‘New Research’ with yellow stars below. Main beige text box reads: Using Q Methodology, a Group of Neurodivergent Neurodiversity Researchers Ask: What is the Neurodiversity Movement and what should it do? Stenner, P., Pearson, A., Kapp, S., Watson, C., Pressler, R., Williams, G., Bertilsdotter-Rosqvist, H., Hultman, L., Semmens-Wheeler, R. and Botha, M.

This was an exciting and long collaboration that was by no means quick! We worked together over a period of time talking, sharing experiences, and then formalised the conversations into a shared methods to figure out what the (dis)similarities were in how we conceptualised

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NEW PAPER (ish - I'm also just delayed) journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Using Q Methodology, a Group of Neurodivergent Neurodiversity Researchers Ask: What is the Neurodiversity Movement and what should it do?

EXAMINE: Exam inequality for neurodivergent students - Nuffield Foundation This project will investigate whether certain features of GCSE examination papers might explain the lower average attainment of neurodivergent students in England.

Exciting to see details of our new project, 'EXAMINE: Exam inequality for neurodivergent students', live on the @nuffieldfoundation.org website!

Led by @annaremington.bsky.social, @craeioe.bsky.social

www.nuffieldfoundation.org/project/exam...

Good to see some of the Pride organisations taking a firm line with the University of Reading, and barring them from official presence at future Pride events - after their 'toilet policies'.
I think that's right.
[Individual students and their own hosted groups won't be affected, AFAIK]

Autistic Self-Diagnosis Can Be Both Valid and Necessary When we deny the validity of self-diagnosis, we fail to recognize how broken health care systems can be, and who is being excluded.

Yes, autistic self-diagnosis is valid: "When we deny the validity of self-diagnosis, we fail to recognize how broken health care systems can be. We effectively restrict our support to those privileged to afford a formal diagnosis." @autisticb4mmr.bsky.social:

thinkingautismguide.com/2019/04/the-...

😂 this made me laugh harder than it should have

RFK Jr. plans to fire advisory task force that determines which cancer screenings to recommend because they’re “too woke”

Holy shit we’re legitimately at “some cancer screenings are too woke.”

Starmer once promised he wouldn't even be interviewed by The Sun.

Since then he's written articles for them, and has now hired its former editor, NewsCorp executive and 2014 Sexist of the Year as 'permanent secretary for communications' at Whitehall.

Also, this badly threatens neurodivergent liberation.

Doubtless not the intent of these specific authors but this whole line of enquiry amounts to divide & conquer

Make autistic activists separate from those with co-occuring learning disability so that they cannot advocate for them.

I'm looking for the best neuro-affirming information and resources from speech and language therapists on apraxia of speech - any support really appreciated! Please messaged or reply below!

I hope you are okay or will be okay

The assistance staff very often has one comment or another and feels too comfortable making judgements on wheelchairs, disabled people, etc.

Lol what do they think a damn mobility scooter is? But also a wheelchair can't safely be in that space with it anyway. That's you using it and you have a right to it. Train travel feels so degrading though. I detest doing it. Like actually detest it.

This is going to be fabulous and I have signed up for a free online stream ticket to watch @drmbothapsych.bsky.social's lecture.

This is going to be excellent.

Oh hey look, the excellent Monique Botha has a talk on all this coming up in a few weeks!

bsky.app/profile/drmb...

I am very excited to be attending this. Monique Botha's interview with CREA is utterly mic-drop worthy ( you can view it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY1b... ) and that was three years ago, just imagine what more they have learned in the intervening years!