☆ Shifting Away From DSM-Centric Views

For decades, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) has shaped how society views autism/ neurodivergence, labelling Autistic people as deficient or disordered. Critical autism scholarship insists that the DSM’s categories aren’t neutral; they reflect social, cultural, and normative biases. By rethinking who decides what’s “standard” and what’s “atypical,” we challenge a system that often frames difference as dysfunction.

• Critiques of Pathologising

The DSM’s criteria can reduce autism to a list of “deficits,” obscuring strengths, creativity, and the impact of society’s demands. It also ignores the role of ableism - the prejudice that devalues disabled or divergent bodies and minds. Critical autism thinking underscores how labelling difference as “disorder” often masks the oppressive structures that create barriers in the first place. Melanie Yergeau’s (2018) critical work “Authoring Autism,” highlights the rhetorical erasure of autistic agency, illustrating how Autistic people are denied authorship of their own identities within dominant narratives. Critical autism calls out how this pathologising lens overshadows the rich, multi-dimensional nature of autistic lives.

• Honouring Individual Realities

By unmooring ourselves from rigid clinical labels, we open space for Autistic people to define their own needs, capacities, and goals, rather than having them imposed from the outside.

• Normative Violence

When societal or medical systems treat neurotypical behaviour as the only valid standard, Autistic individuals experience what some scholars call “normative violence”: the implicit (or explicit) enforcement of an oppressive norm that alienates and pathologises anyone who doesn’t conform. Anne McGuire (2016) argues in her work, "War on Autism," that this ‘normative violence’ is embedded in societal narratives of autism as something to be eliminated or overcome.

☆ Self-Identification and Neurodiversity

Central to critical autism studies is the idea of self-determination in how individuals describe their experiences. This approach aligns with neurodiversity: the recognition that every brain is valid and that neurological differences are part of the human tapestry.

• Beyond Narrow Diagnostic Categories

Many Autistic people choose self-identification or self-diagnosis, finding personal clarity and a sense of community without formal clinical labels. This trend represents a cultural, transformative shift toward honouring personal and lived experiences over rigid medical definitions

• Challenging Expertise Hierarchies

Self-identification also challenges the notion that professionals always know best. Tt places Autistic voices at the centre of dialogues about autism, insisting that we define ourselves on our own terms. Yergeau (2018) emphasises that rhetorical agency—Autistic individuals narrating their own lives—is vital for dismantling oppressive professional hierarchies. Autistic individuals become authors, rather than subjects, of autism narratives.

☆ Queering Norms and Narratives

Just as Alice’s Wonderland subverts everyday rules, critical autism discourse questions the notion that there’s a single “correct” way to communicate, think, or be social.

• Queering the Narrative

Borrowing from queer theory, “queering” means dissecting and dismantling norms that stigmatise difference. For Autistic people, this might involve reclaiming stimming, direct communication, intense interests, or alternative social rhythms that have been unfairly pathologised. Yergeau (2018) describes this as "neurological queerness," underscoring that Autistic ways of being inherently disrupt normative frameworks.

• Disrupting the Status Quo & Collaborative Activism

Neuroqueer and other critical autism movements assert that Autistic ways of being—and the broader neurodivergent spectrum— can enrich society in countless ways and offer vital perspectives on community, creativity, and social justice. By moving away from a “fix or cure” mentality, we celebrate difference as creative force. It’s an invitation to reimagine how we build spaces, form relationships, and redefine “success.”

☆ Leading Thinkers and Ideas

• Dr. Damian Milton – Double Empathy Problem; complicates the idea that communication difficulties rest solely with autistic people.

• Nick Walker – Neuroqueer & Neurocosmopolitanism; actively subverts social norms around normality, identity, and self-expression.

• Dinah & Fergus Murray – Monotropism; reframes intense focus as a powerful strength and creative tool.

• Fiona Kumari Campbell – Explores ableism, highlighting how social structures perpetuate oppression against disabled or neurodivergent individuals.

• Melanie Yergeau – Critically examines the rhetorical positioning of autism, exploring Autistic identity through lenses of rhetoric and neurological queerness (Yergeau, 2018).

• Anne McGuire – Explores cultural narratives that position autism as something to be eliminated or feared, emphasising normative violence and systemic exclusion (McGuire, 2016).

• Erin Manning – Advocates an affirmative and creative understanding of Autistic perception, encouraging society to embrace autistic experiences as innovative and valuable (Manning, 2016).

• Dr. Rachel McCullen – Proposes the Autistic Language Hypothesis, reframing Autistic communication as a valid linguistic system, not a deficit. Her work helps dismantle deficit-based interpretations of language and connects directly to narrative reclamation and linguistic agency.

• Dr. Monique Botha – Explores the impact of societal stigma and discrimination on Autistic individuals, emphasising the need for an intersectional approach in autism research.​

• Crip Technoscience (a field) – Examines how disabled and neurodivergent communities innovate and reconfigure technology/systems for their own needs, rather than relying on mainstream “solutions”.

• Self-Advocates & Lived Experts – Emphasise the importance of “nothing about us without us,” reminding us that Autistic people must lead conversations about autism.

☆ How This Critical Lens Informs Alice’s Wonderland

1. Creating Disruptive Spaces

   At Alice’s Wonderland, we actively carve out spaces where Autistic voices and other marginalised perspectives come first, de-centring traditional “expert” hierarchies. This means actively dismantling normative violence and questioning so-called “universal” rules.

2. Honouring Self-Definition

   Whether someone is formally diagnosed or self-identifies, autonomy and personal lived experience are at the heart of our work. We reject the idea that we need clinical approval to claim an identity and external authority can always dictate what we are.

3. Queering Our Imagination

   In the Wonderland spirit, we invite everyone to question assumptions, upend restrictive norms, and view “nonsensical” or “abnormal” behaviours as sources of wonder and innovation.

4. Building Community & Solidarity

   Collaboration with others, especially those labelled “outside the norm,” drives our mission. By lifting up diverse experiences, we form robust communities rooted in empathy and mutual respect.

5. Toward Transformative Justice

   Beyond advocating for policy changes, we strive for transformative shifts in how we relate to one another: building connections grounded in empathy, authenticity, and shared power rather than assimilation or compliance.

☆ Embracing the Impossible

Much like Alice, we might find ourselves in worlds that feel impossible, contradictory, or surreal. Like Alice confronting paradoxes and riddles, critical autism teaches us that it’s not our minds or bodies that need fixing—it’s the social structures and prejudices that label difference as disorder. By rejecting pathologising labels, celebrating self-identification, and queering mainstream narratives, we shatter barriers and unleash the creative, world-bending potential inherent in neurodivergent existence.

Here in Alice’s Wonderland, we take the lessons of critical autism to heart. We bend rules, embrace our supposed “madness,” and call forth a more expansive reality—one in which every mind has the freedom to exist, create, and dream on its own terms.

➽ This entry is part of the Key Concepts series at Alice’s Wonderland, exploring the frameworks that shape how we think, connect, and create. If you’d like to contribute your own reflections or join the conversation, we’d love to hear from you.