August Slugs & Steins

Learning About Autism From Autistic People

Most of the research on autism is conducted by non-autistic people. The neurodiversity movement centers autistic perspectives which contributes to a better understanding of autistic experiences and can counteract existing stereotypes about autistic people. In this presentation, we discuss two methods for centering autistic perspectives on autism—including autistic people on research teams and reading autistic autobiographies—and explore several potential benefits of doing so.

Nameera Akhtar is a Professor of Psychology, and Janette Dinishak is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Santa Cruz. After a fruitful decade of collaborating on autism-related topics, these two academics would like you to know that they are not experts on autism. In their presentation they will introduce you to some of the real experts.