Judy Singer

Judy Singer
Born	Australia
Alma mater	University of Technology Sydney
School	Disability studies
Notable ideas	Neurodiversity

Judy Singer is an Australian sociologist, known for coining the term "neurodiversity". ^[1]

Biography

Judy Singer, the daughter of a Jewish mother who survived World War II, grew up in Australia. For many years, she worked as a computer consultant and later became a single mother. She noticed traits in her daughter that resembled the social difficulties of her mother. Later, Singer's daughter was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. ^{[2] [3]} Singer has also described herself as "likely somewhere on the autistic spectrum". ^[4]

Before the diagnosis, Singer began studying sociology at the University of Technology Sydney and delved into British and American disability studies. ^{[5] [6] [ better source needed ]} While following the virtual activism of autistic and other neurologically different people in the mid-1990s, particularly on the Independent Living Mailing List forum, she met journalist Harvey Blume. ^[7] Due to accreditation of the origin of the term "neurodiversity" to Singer by Steve Silberman in his book NeuroTribes, Singer is often credited with the creation of the term neurodiversity ^[1] to represent both the idea of neurological diversity and to think about the existence of a social movement of neurological minorities that would also include the autism rights movement. ^{[8] [9] [10]} However, this term first appeared in publication in a 1998 article by Harvey Blume, a year before Singer included it in a book chapter discussing the development of the concept of "neurological diversity" online. In this chapter, Singer did not claim to have created the term, and only used it in passing. ^[1]

In Australia, Singer also created ASpar, a group to support families of autistic people. In 2016, she published the book Neurodiversity: The Birth of an Idea. ^[11]

Singer has distanced herself from the expansion of the term neurodiversity outside of her original focus on "high functioning" autism awareness when coining the term, stating: “I was very clear in my thesis that I was only talking about Asperger’s." ^[12]

Publications

• Neurodiversity: The birth of an Idea (2016)

References

1. Botha, Monique; Chapman, Robert; Giwa Onaiwu, Morénike; Kapp, Steven K; Stannard Ashley, Abs; Walker, Nick (12 March 2024). "The neurodiversity concept was developed collectively: An overdue correction on the origins of neurodiversity theory". Autism. doi: 10.1177/13623613241237871 . ISSN   1362-3613 . Retrieved 12 March 2024.
2. Tiago Abreu (8 March 2021). "Introvertendo 161 - Judy Singer". Introvertendo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 April 2021.
3. Andrew Solomon. "The Autism Rights Movement". New York Magazine . Retrieved 20 February 2023.
4. "Meet Judy Singer Neurodiversity Pioneer". My Spectrum Suite. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
5. Tumlin, Zachary (2019). ""This Is a Quiet Library, Except When It's Not:" On the Lack of Neurodiversity Awareness in Librarianship". Music Reference Services Quarterly. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
6. Nancy Doyle. "Can We Celebrate Neurodiversity Yet?". Forbes . Retrieved 20 February 2023.
7. Abreu, Tiago (2022). O que é neurodiversidade? (1st ed.). Goiânia: Cânone Editorial. p. 80. ISBN   9786588321096.
8. "Judy Singer e a neurodiversidade". Autismo e Realidade (in Portuguese). 25 June 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
9. "Why there is no such thing as a 'normal' brain". BBC News . Retrieved 26 April 2021.
10. "Igual, mas diferente". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 April 2021.
11. Hughes, Jonathan A. (2020). "Does the heterogeneity of autism undermine the neurodiversity paradigm?". Bioethics. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
12. Lutz, Amy S.F. (26 June 2023). "An Interview with Neurodiversity Originator Judy Singer". Psychology Today.

External links

• Official website
• The mother of neurodiversity: how Judy Singer changed the world, 2023 interview in The Guardian