Neuroqueer
Neuroqueer is an identity, practice, or way of thinking that connects neurodivergence with questioning social rules about minds, bodies, gender, sexuality, relationships, and behavior. It is not a sexual or romantic orientation. However, it may be part of someone’s wider queer identity.
People who use the term neuroqueer may be describing an identity, a worldview, or the practice of intentionally challenging these norms. Neuroqueering may affect gender and sexuality, but it can also apply to communication, movement, relationships, creativity, work, and everyday life.
Neuroqueer challenges neuronormativity, or the belief that there is one normal or correct way to think, communicate, behave, and relate to others. It also examines how these expectations overlap with heteronormativity, gender norms, ableism, and other pressures to appear socially acceptable.
The concept is often connected to masking, which involves hiding or changing neurodivergent traits, needs, movements, communication styles, interests, gender expression, or behavior to avoid stigma or appear more “normal.” Neuroqueering may involve unmasking and finding ways to communicate, form relationships, express sexuality, or move through the world that better suit a person’s actual needs.
Neuroqueering also rejects the idea that neurodivergent people are broken or incomplete. It sees neurodivergence as an important part of identity. It can shape how someone thinks, feels, communicates, and experiences the world.
This approach emphasizes self-determination. A person might adapt their environment, relationships, work, communication, or sexual practices to work with their neurotype rather than forcing themselves to follow conventional social scripts. It can also recognize neurodivergent forms of communication and community as meaningful cultures rather than simply collections of symptoms or deficits.
Neuroqueer perspectives may recognize that some difficulties associated with neurodivergence are caused or made worse by ableism, stigma, exclusion, and environments designed around neurotypical expectations. The goal is not simply to use more positive language, but to question the assumptions that define certain minds and behaviors as normal and others as defective.
Not everyone who is neurodivergent or queer identifies as neuroqueer, and not everyone who engages in neuroqueering uses it as an identity label.
Origins of the Term
The term is most closely associated with Nick Walker, an autistic scholar who began using it around 2008. Walker describes neuroqueering as actively challenging neuronormative and heteronormative expectations and creating new ways of thinking, expressing oneself, and relating to others.
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