Highly effective early autistic activism gave considerable impetus to changes in the way autism research is conceived and carried out, notably through Critical Autism Studies (CAS). Little, though, has been similarly formalised challenging pathology-driven views of other forms of neurodivergence in research. However, there are increasing signs that this is changing, perhaps most particularly concerning ADHD. Here, we propose a tentative outline for what a Critical ADHD Studies - drawing on, bleeding into, and yet retaining its own specificities from both CAS and emergent Neurodiversity Studies - might resemble. This is neither a gate-keeping exercise nor a definitive mapping out of a field. Neither is 'critical', here, concerned with discussion of the validity of ADHD diagnoses. Rather, we seek points of intersection and of potential ally-ship, pulling together approaches centring ADHD lived experience, depathologisation, and ADHD affirmative world-making with related fields such as CAS and Neurodiversity Studies.

In this paper we seek to restory what has been storied as “the problem of ADHD”. Informed by calls for a critical ADHD studies, we explore the possibilities of ADHD collective autoethnographic storytelling. Together we (en)counter narratives of ADHD. Within our collective writing space, from our ADHD/AuDHD bodyminds, we seek to re-story our ADHD/AuDHD. We map a field of critical ADHD research within social sciences and point out problems of outsider perspectives, stressing a need for insider perspectives. Our data consist of collective authoethnographic writings about ADHD. From the data we have explored our experiences of (En)Countering ADHD narratives, and a transition process which we refer to as from ”broken NT-scholars” to neurodivergent scholars, stressing the importance of ADHD:ers as independent as well as collective agents, and ADHD as epistemological standpoint within research.

Autistic love may go unnoticed by neurotypical spectators due to the double empathy problem (Milton, 2012) and a neurotypical gaze (McDermott, 2022). Together, these reproduce limiting recognitions of love to a narrow set of behaviors, such as certain acts of love. To oppose the exclusion resulting from such conventions, we use a collective autoethnographic literary approach to explore (1) scientific and fictional depictions of autistic love, (2) neurodivergent readers' (including our own) experiences of those depictions, and (3) how our own experiences may neuroqueer traditional ideas of love. By this we illustrate a broader range of pleasure and connection. Thus, the chapter invites the reader into an intimate experience of rereading love to recenter autistic perspectives, connect within and across neurotypes, and celebrate diverse forms of autistic acts of love.

This edited collection of contributions explores non-normative genders, sexualities, and relationality among Autistic people. Written within an explicitly neuro-affirmative frame, the collection celebrates the diversity and richness of Autistic identity, sexuality, gender, and relationships, exploring areas such as consent, embodiment, ink, kink, sex education, and therapeutic work. All editors and contributors are neurodivergent and members of the communities that the book focuses on, providing an authentic and unique exploration of gender, sexuality, and relationality in Autistic people by Autistic/other neurodivergent authors. The book is primarily intended for postgraduate students and academics across disciplines including sociology, social work, psychology, disability studies, inclusive and special education, and sexual education. Mental health professionals and educators will also find it a useful resource to support their Autistic clients as well as developing their own understanding about how to support Autistic people in a neurodiversity-affirming, kink-affirming, LGBTQ+, and gender-variant way.

This chapter sets out the problem of looking at Autistic sexualities, genders, and relationalities from a distance within a deficit approach, one that stresses lack and need for “correction”. It proceeds to introduce neurodiversity-affirming approaches, drawing on neuroqueer and feminist theorizing to stress the importance of recognition of neurodivergence and different expressions of sexualities, genders, and relationalities among Autistic people. We also examine the importance of finding another way of telling our stories, including citing differently in order to move the field forward in a neurodiversity-affirming way. The book content is introduced, divided into four different sections: beginnings, evolving understandings, unlearning and relearning, and conclusions. The chapter ends with a note on editors.

In the concluding chapter, the central learnings from all chapters are summarized. We present reflections on each chapter as we draw together the overall gestalt of what we have learned, unlearned, or perhaps relearned as we have worked on the text. We explore the necessity of naming the nameless before it can be thought, the need to tell each other different stories, and how our understandings may evolve through unlearning what we thought we knew. When we share experiences with each other, new concepts and ways of naming ourselves and our experiences emerges. The chapter ends with implications of our learnings for practice and possible new ways of conducting research on Autistic sexualities, relationalities, and genders.

This article is an investigation of neurodivergent reading practices. It is a collectively written paper where the focus is as much on an autoethnographic exploration of our autistic readings of autism/autistic fiction as it is on the read texts themselves. The reading experiences described come primarily from Yoon Ha Lee's Dragon Pearl (2019) and Dahlia Donovan's The Grasmere Cottage Mystery (2018), which we experience as opposite each other in how they depict their neurodivergent characters and speak to us as autistic readers. Through the article, we describe a formation of neurodivergent (critical) collective readings of autism/autistic fiction. The article contributes to an academic and activistic discourse around neurodivergent reader responses and power relations between neurodivergent and neurotypical readers and authors.

This chapter underscores the significance of establishing safer spaces for exploring autistic bodies, desires, and sensory experiences. Unlike conventional sexual education for autistic people, which often oversimplifies neurotypical information, this chapter adopts a sex-positive and neurodiversity-affirming approach. Drawing from interviews and surveys with autistic people in Sweden engaged in kink practices, the results delve into the interplay of autism and sensory pleasures within the kink context. Participants sought balance in sensory input, exploring different intensities and degrees through stimming but also navigating in relation to risks of sensory overloads including meltdowns and shutdowns. Kink spaces were identified as supportive environments for sensory exploration and relaxation. Communication emerges as a central theme, with clear communication being a key draw to kink for participants. Kink settings were portrayed as potentially autistic-friendly spaces, allowing for diverse forms of intimacy and social interaction. The participants' stories showcased the joys of shared sensory experiences in neurodivergent spaces, emphasising the importance of ongoing self-discovery and understanding at the intersection of autism and kink. The chapter concludes by urging readers to engage in practical self-reflection and exploration and suggests the creation of personal checklists as a valuable tool for expressing and understanding individual needs within intimate settings.

A lot of people who do research are also neurodivergent (such as being autistic or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), but neurodivergent people do not always feel welcome in research spaces which are often shaped around neurotypical people. Some neurotypical researchers lack confidence in talking to neurodivergent people, and others feel like neurodivergent people might not be able to do good research about other people who are like them without being biased. We think it is important that all researchers are able to work well together, regardless of whether they are neurotypical, autistic, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (or any other neurotype) – in truly ‘neurodiverse’ teams. In this article we talk about how to create better spaces for all researchers, where we feel valued for who we are and take each others’ needs into account. We do this using some approaches from other areas of research and talking about how they relate to our personal experiences of being neurodivergent researchers with our own personal stories. This article adds to a growing work on how we can work with people who are different from us, in more respectful and kind ways.

This paper explores young autistic adults' energy management in relation to work, leisure activities and social relationships. Energy management strategies serve as different ways for the young autistic adults to sustain their energy balance by trying to understand what increases or reduces their energy levels. In this way, energy can be understood as modes of autistic functionality where the informants' individual energy levels, the contexts in which they find themselves and the strategies they use to influence and form central parts of their everyday lives.