Many of us whose ways of thinking and processing diverge from the narrow confines sanctioned as normal by discourses of neurotypicality have begun celebrating and embracing our difference.  I see neurodiversity — the wide and wondrous neurological and cognitive variation among humans (and other sentient beings) — to play the same role in the realm of consciousness that biodiversity plays in ecological communities.  Cultures that foster neurodiversity are healthy and resilient, like biodiverse ecosystems.   Cultures that enforce neurotypicality are brittle and susceptible to sudden collapse, like the monocultures created by industrial agriculture.  I am proud to be a stubborn weed in the wheat field of capitalist culture.

NeuroQueer” people inspired by the work of Queer communities and the Queer Theory that arose from those communities, actively resist, subvert, and defy the expectations the dominant culture places on the behavior, thoughts, expressions, and appearance of Autistics and other neurodivergent people. By carving out spaces for ourselves and each other, NeuroQueer people begin to break the stranglehold a culture of enforced neurotypicality has on everyone’s consciousness, creating the possibility for new expressions an new experiences.