{"id":426,"date":"2015-05-02T20:34:11","date_gmt":"2015-05-03T03:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heatherbrewermft.com\/blog\/?p=426"},"modified":"2015-05-19T01:54:08","modified_gmt":"2015-05-19T08:54:08","slug":"neuroqueer-an-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heatherbrewermft.com\/blog\/?p=426","title":{"rendered":"“Neuroqueer: An Introduction”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally posted on www.neurocosmopolitanism.com<\/a> on 2 May 2015 by my amazing friend and colleague, Nick Walker. Nick is an Autistic educator, author, speaker, transdisciplinary scholar, and martial arts master, and has been at the forefront of the neurodiversity awareness movement for many years. It’s my pleasure to present his latest work.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

“The term neuroqueer<\/em> was coined independently and more or less simultaneously by Elizabeth J. (Ibby) Grace<\/a>, Michael Scott Monje Jr.<\/a>, and myself<\/a>. Having coined it, all three of us managed to spend a few years not getting around to using it in any published work,\u00a0even though\u00a0the set of concepts and practices\u00a0represented by the term came to heavily\u00a0inform\u00a0our\u00a0thinking. I almost used Neuroqueer<\/em>\u00a0as the title for my blog, but decided to go with the title Neurocosmopolitanism<\/em> instead. Michael almost used Neuroqueer<\/em>\u00a0as the title for a novel, but decided to go\u00a0with the title Defiant<\/em> instead.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until Michael mentioned this last fact, in an online conversation in which he and Ibby and I were all involved, that we discovered that all three of us had been playing around with the same term. Happily, though we were all approaching it from different angles, our various interpretations\u00a0of neuroqueer (or neuroqueerness, or neuroqueering) were in no way incompatible. In the same conversation, we learned\u00a0that another friend and colleague of ours, Melanie Yergeau<\/a>, while she hadn\u2019t yet stumbled upon the word\u00a0neuroqueer,<\/em> had been thinking along quite similar and compatible lines in playing with the concept of neurological queerness; Melanie\u2019s contributions have been\u00a0extensive enough that even if she didn\u2019t come up with\u00a0the actual word, I consider her \u2013 along with Ibby, Michael, and myself \u2013 to be one of originators of the concept of neuroqueer (or neuroqueerness, or neuroqueering).<\/p>\n

All four of us \u2013 Ibby, Michael, Melanie, and I \u2013 emerged from that conversation freshly inspired to begin introducing the term, and the set of concepts and\u00a0practices it describes, into our public work and into our communities and the broader culture. Since then, we\u2019ve been following through on that\u00a0intention in various exciting\u00a0ways.\u00a0Ibby, Michael, and I, along with Bridget Allen<\/a> and Corbett O\u2019Toole<\/a>,\u00a0founded\u00a0the independent publishing\u00a0house Autonomous Press<\/a>, to publish books in which\u00a0neuroqueerness of one sort or another tends to play a prominent role\u00a0(starting in 2016, Autonomous Press will also have an imprint called NeuroQueer Books). Ibby founded the NeuroQueer blog<\/a>, with Michael and Dani Alexis Ryskamp<\/a> and I later joining as co-editors.\u00a0Melanie is working on a book that I can\u2019t tell you about yet, but it\u2019s going to be extraordinary and most definitely relevant. We\u2019ve all started talking about neuroqueerness and neuroqueering in our academic conference presentations and public speaking engagements<\/a>. Ibby and I are now co-editing the NeuroQueer Handbook,<\/em> which will be published by Autonomous Press in 2016.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the term is catching on\u00a0in various circles and communities, taking on a life of its own, as terms and concepts tend to do when the time is right for them.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0showing up in academic papers and conference presentations, creative projects, Facebook communities, blogs and Tumblr accounts and all manner of social media platforms. It\u2019s been adopted\u00a0by a whole lot of people I don\u2019t know \u2013 and when a new term\/concept spreads beyond\u00a0the social circles of its originators, that\u2019s generally a sign that it\u2019s \u201cgot legs,\u201d as they say. In other words, it\u2019s a term that you\u2019re likely to be hearing\u00a0a lot more of in the years to come.<\/p>\n

(The day before I wrote this piece, I was at California Institute of Integral Studies<\/a>\u00a0for the first meeting of a course I teach called Critical Perspectives on Autism and Neurodiversity.<\/em> I was introducing my students to basic neurodiversity-related terminology<\/a> like neurotypical<\/em> and neurodivergent,<\/em>\u00a0when a young undergraduate excitedly asked me, \u201cHave you heard of the term neuroqueer?<\/em>\u201d)<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve already seen a lot of interpretations of neuroqueer and attempts at definition from folks who\u2019ve adopted the term. Some of those interpretations miss the point, sometimes in ways that are truly facepalm-worthy. Other\u00a0interpretations are more on-point but overly\u00a0narrow, such that Ibby, Michael, Melanie, and I\u00a0look at them and say, \u201cYeah, that\u2019s part<\/em> of what we were getting at\u2026\u00a0but only part<\/em> of it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

So what were<\/em> we getting at? What is<\/em> neuroqueer (or neuroqueerness, or neuroqueering)?<\/p>\n

I should first of all acknowledge that any effort to establish an \u201cauthoritative\u201d definition of neuroqueer is in some sense inherently doomed and ridiculous, simply because the sort of people who identify as neuroqueer and engage in neuroqueering tend to be\u00a0the sort of people who delight in subverting definitions, concepts, and anything \u201cauthoritative.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said,\u00a0the definition that follows\u00a0is as close to an \u201cauthoritative\u201d definition of neuroqueer (and neuroqueerness, and neuroqueering) as is ever\u00a0likely to exist. I wrote it with the input and approval of the other three\u00a0originators of the concept. So it\u2019s the one definition out there that all four of the originators of neuroqueer have agreed is not only accurate, but also inclusive\u00a0of all<\/em> of the various practices and ways-of-being that any of the four of us\u00a0ever intended neuroqueer<\/em> to encompass.<\/p>\n

Neuroqueer<\/em> is both a verb and an adjective.\u00a0As a verb, it refers to a broad range of interrelated practices. As an adjective it describes things that are associated with those practices or that result from those practices: neuroqueer theory, neuroqueer perspectives, neuroqueer narratives, neuroqueer literature, neuroqueer art, neuroqueer culture, neuroqueer community.\u00a0And as an adjective, neuroqueer<\/em>\u00a0can also serve as a label of social identity, just like such labels as queer, gay, lesbian, straight,\u00a0black, white, hapa, Deaf,<\/em> or Autistic<\/em> (to name just a small sampling).<\/p>\n

A neuroqueer individual is an individual whose identity has in some way been shaped by their engagement\u00a0in practices of neuroqueering. Or, to put it more concisely (but perhaps more confusingly): you\u2019re neuroqueer if you neuroqueer.<\/p>\n

So what does it mean to neuroqueer, as a verb? What are the various practices that fall within the definition of neuroqueering?<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Being neurodivergent and approaching one\u2019s neurodivergence as a form of queerness (e.g., by understanding and approaching neurodivergence in ways that are inspired by, or similar to, the ways in which queerness is understood and approached in Queer Theory, Gender Studies, and\/or queer activism).<\/li>\n
  2. Being both neurodivergent and queer, with some degree of conscious awareness and\/or active exploration around how these two aspects of one\u2019s identity intersect and interact.<\/li>\n
  3. Being neurodivergent and actively choosing to embody and express one\u2019s neurodivergence (or refusing to suppress one\u2019s embodiment and expression of neurodivergence) in ways that \u201cqueer\u201d one\u2019s performance of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, occupation, and\/or other aspects of one\u2019s identity.<\/li>\n
  4. Engaging in the \u201cqueering\u201d of one\u2019s own neurocognitive processes (and one\u2019s outward embodiment and expression of those processes) by intentionally altering them in ways that create significant and lasting increase in one\u2019s divergence from dominant neurological, cognitive, and behavioral norms.<\/li>\n
  5. Engaging in practices intended to \u201cundo\u201d one\u2019s cultural conditioning toward conformity and compliance with dominant norms, with the aim of reclaiming one\u2019s capacity to give more full expression to one\u2019s neurodivergence and\/or one\u2019s uniquely weird personal potentials and inclinations.<\/li>\n
  6. Identifying as neuroqueer due to one\u2019s engagement in any of the above practices.<\/li>\n
  7. Being neurodivergent and producing literature and\/or other cultural artifacts that foreground neurodivergent experiences and perspectives.<\/li>\n
  8. Being neurodivergent and producing critical responses to literature and\/or other cultural artifacts, focusing on intentional or unintentional characterizations of neurodivergence and how those characterizations illuminate and\/or are illuminated by the lived experiences of actual neurodivergent people.<\/li>\n
  9. Working to transform social and cultural environments in order to create spaces and communities \u2013 and ultimately a society \u2013 in which engagement in any or all of the above practices is permitted, accepted, supported, and encouraged.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So there you have it, from the people who brought you the term. This definition is, again, not an authoritative \u201clast word\u201d on the subject, because that would be a silly thing to attempt. Rather, I hope this will\u00a0be taken as a \u201cfirst word\u201d \u2013 a broad \u201cworking definition\u201d from which further theory, practice, and play will proceed.<\/p>\n

    Happy neuroqueering!”<\/p>\n

    Reposted with permission from Nick Walker. Source: http:\/\/neurocosmopolitanism.com\/neuroqueer-an-introduction\/<\/a><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Originally posted on www.neurocosmopolitanism.com on 2 May 2015 by my amazing friend and colleague, Nick Walker. Nick is an Autistic educator, author, speaker, transdisciplinary scholar, and martial arts master, and has been at the forefront of the neurodiversity awareness movement for many years. It’s my pleasure to present his latest work. “The term neuroqueer was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,135],"tags":[179,186,187,188,34,193,10,14,42,185,184,189,190,191,44,22,41,83,43],"class_list":["post-426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-neuropsychological-diversity","category-resources-for-therapists","tag-asexuality-2","tag-aspergers","tag-autism","tag-autistm-spectrum","tag-body-mind-therapy","tag-cognitive-liberty","tag-gender-fluidity","tag-gender-spectrum","tag-los-angeles-therapy","tag-neurodiverse","tag-neurodiversity","tag-neuroqueer","tag-neuroqueerdom-2","tag-neuroqueering","tag-santa-monica-therapy","tag-sex-therapy","tag-somatic-psychotherapy","tag-somatic-sex-therapy","tag-somatic-therapy-santa-monica"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heatherbrewermft.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heatherbrewermft.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heatherbrewermft.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heatherbrewermft.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heatherbrewermft.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=426"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/heatherbrewermft.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":430,"href":"https:\/\/heatherbrewermft.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426\/revisions\/430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heatherbrewermft.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heatherbrewermft.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heatherbrewermft.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}