Judy Singer is an Australian sociologist, known for popularizing the term "

neurodiversity The neurodiversity paradigm is a framework for understanding human brain function that considers the diversity within sensory processing, Motor skill, motor abilities, Social anxiety, social comfort, cognition, and Attention, focus as neurobiol ...

Biography

Judy Singer, the daughter of a Jewish mother who survived

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, grew up in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. 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 Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a diagnostic label that has historically been used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and no ...

. Singer has also described herself as "likely somewhere on the autistic spectrum". Before the diagnosis, Singer began studying

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

at the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a Institute of technology, ...

and delved into British and American disability studies. 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. 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 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. 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. 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''. Singer has distanced herself from the expansion of the term

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."

Publications

*''Neurodiversity: The birth of an Idea'' (2016)

References

External links

*
The mother of neurodiversity: how Judy Singer changed the world
2023 interview in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 20th-century Australian Jews 21st-century Australian Jews 20th-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian women writers Autism rights movement Australian disability rights activists Australian women non-fiction writers Disability studies academics Jewish Australian academics Jewish Australian writers Living people Autistic writers University of Technology Sydney alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{Autism-stub