Review of the e journal

AchieveAbility E-Journal 4th Edition.
Neurodiverse Voices: Intergenerational Differences.


Editors: David Hermainstein, Dr Katherine Hewlett, Professor Debra Kelly. Becky Morris
Review by Professor Nicola Martin

Barry Sherman MP, Achievability’s Patron, described the fourth edition of the research journal of AchieveAbility as ‘groundbreaking ‘and I can see why. I read it from the dual perspectives of a potential neurodivergent author as well as an academic working in the field.

As someone who might wish to contribute, I was delighted by the journals clarity of purpose, which is described as offering ‘a forum for exchange and debate that informs policy, strategy and practice on Neurodiversity within our society’. The focus is broad encompassing education, training, employment, social justice and cultural change, and it should be broad as understanding neurodivergence is relevant across society.

The journal is accessible to screen readers of course and includes, for example, talking heads. These things make engaging with the material so much easier and more enjoyable than ploughing through pages and pages of unbroken text. Visually every page is pleasing and navigable.

Clear explanations are included for potential contributors, about various creative ways to submit work and the creative approaches adopted by the authors make for lively reading. I am using the term reading in its broadest sense, moving beyond looking at words on a page.

Unusually, the guidelines state that ‘original thinking and preferred communication styles, formats and media’ are encouraged. This in no way compromises the rigour of the review process and I will certainly urge my students and colleagues to contribute.

Diverse authors are presented, and diversity is actively encouraged and moves the journal beyond the realms of a vehicle for academics to showcase research. The fourth edition aims ‘to encourage conversation as part of the national and global narratives of neurodivergent people and our lived experiences’. It looks back and forward, considering historical and contemporary influences which have shaped the life experiences of neurodivergent people and ways in which society could better address disadvantage and promote equity and full participation without unnecessary barriers. The result reads like a collective endeavour with a shared commitment to using research in order to inform changes in practice in ways which could make a positive difference for individuals and society as a whole.

Autoethnography from neurodivergent authors features strongly and
practitioners in roles other than academic are also represented and have added value to this edition. I have written extensively about the need to listen to neurodivergent students and Professional Services Staff in our universities as there is absolutely no substitute for insider perspective. (Martin 2020b).

“Out There” by Joyce Dutch touches on acceptance, sense of self and identity, which is a running theme through many of the largely autoethnographic pieces in the journal. These prompted me to reflect on my own sense of self. While I appreciate that my neurodivergence has probably enabled me to empathise with others, I am acutely aware of the difficulties I encounter because of the mismatch between the ways I tackle many things and the ways a professor is
supposed to operate in academia. At 64 I have a level of self-acceptance, but Ialso experience frustration and irritation with myself and with a society which does not really understand how someone can be both successful and neurodivergent.

In ‘Breaking Away from Past Generational Concepts of Autism. Contextualising Autistic People’s Experiences of Employment from a Neuro-Trait-Interaction Perspective’ Jessica Dark emphasises the importance of moving away from historic negative understandings of autism towards a conceptualisation informed by autistic people which rejects deficit model thinking.

Nancy Doyle and Almuth McDowall reflect on the importance of autistic scholarship in ‘The Neurodiversity Movement: A Tipping Point and much of my own work in this arena emphasises the need to employ autistic scholars in fair and equitable ways to progress this agenda. This is not happening yet. Birchall and Martin 2023, Martin 2020 a).

‘Navigating the Intergenerational Experience of Neurodivergence using the VLR® and the Biopsychosocial Models’ by Cheri Shone discussed the Validate, Link and Reframe (VLR®) lens as an approach for neurodivergent individuals to ‘reframe, strategise and scaffold their weaknesses and reconnect with their strengths, regaining an internal Locus of Control (Rotter, 1966, in Alexander- Passe, 2015: 105) and a belief in their own ability’. This speaks to me on several levels, one of which relates to the need to eradicate socially constructed barriers to enable neurodivergent participation. The word ‘weakness’ presses my buttons, although I do understand Tom Shakespear’s (2013) arguments about the interaction between impairment effects and societal obstacles.

Esther Efemini ‘s ‘Dyspraxic Diamond’ reminded me of me and triggered the trauma of failing the 11 plus. Trauma is a recurring theme. In ‘Three Inspiring Journeys of Discovery James Carroll and interviewees from St Mungo’s, Wayne Chin, Jason Why and Dan Sutton, Three Men’. Dan’s interview had a similar impact. His first word was ‘massively ‘in response to being asked about theeffects of his neurodivergence at school. Dan used that word multiple times and also referenced guilt and regret and social impacts including being labelled as misbehaving and damaging and detrimental schooling and exclusion from the subject he loved (history). He gave a generous shout out to Miss Davies, the atypical teacher who understood. University was a more positive experience. Dan’s critique of the superpower narrative around neurodivergence reminded me again of Tom Shakespeare’s (2013)similarly controversial post social model ideas. My dyspraxia is not a superpower. Dan is going on to an exciting job and will inevitably have to advocate for himself in order to ensure that the environment is conducive to his success. From my experience this is exhausting.

Breaking the Code by Genevieve Mackenzie argued that ‘we all have strengths that can help us overcome obstacles’. Yes, we do, but we don’t all get the support we need, as evidenced in Dan’s comments about the extent to which neurodivergence is prevalent within the prison population.

Nick Park’s Dyslexia Journal – How Times Have Changed with Dyslexia & Me includes the authors reflections on the enjoyment of reading and reminds us that this is not necessarily about words on a page as technology has opened so many doors.

In The Phenomenology of Neurodivergence across Generations, Lennie Varvarides discusses ‘DYSPLA…the arts organisation… to create a brave space where these subjects about creativity, neurodivergence and society can be theatricalized and where a collective peer-to-peer community can flourish’. We need creativity, we need community and Achievability is clearly an innovative mover and shaker within this arena.

My reaction to Ann Dean’s work ‘Differences and Similarities between
Generations. Can we support each other collaboratively?’ was, predictably … Yes, we could and should.

In summary, I very much enjoyed reading this journal from cover to cover. I appreciated the text breaks and in particular the talking heads. The range of contributors opened up the space for diverse perspectives. The main question that arose for me was around resilience. The journal is full of evidence of systems which do not serve neurodivergent people well and the question for me is why are people failed by the system then expected to develop various coping methods themselves. This journal has the potential to challenge thinking and to act as a provocation to society to change in order to eradicate unnecessary barriers to full participation experienced by neurodivergent people.


References
Birchall, D. and Martin, N. (2023). Human Rights: The Right to Work in Academia. Journal of Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education. 15 (1), pp. 75-101.

Martin, N. (2020a). Perspectives on UK university employment from autistic researchers and lecturers. Disability & Society. 36 (9), pp. 1510-
1531. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1802579

Martin, N. (2020b). Practical Scholarship: Optimising Beneficial Research Collaborations Between Autistic Scholars, Professional Services Staff and ‘Typical Academics’ in UK Universities. in: Chown, N. (ed.) Neurodiversity: A New Critical Paradigm Routledge.

Shakespeare, T., 2013. Disability rights and wrongs revisited. Routledge.