Understanding Others in a Neurodiverse World

Gemma Williams is an autistic autism researcher, musician and ex-beekeeper, living in Sussex. Gemma is a linguist by heart, but following her ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Brighton in Social Policy, her research interests have extended to more social justice-related issues, including: autistic people's experiences of loneliness, barriers to healthcare for neurodivergent people, sensory environments of public spaces and, most recently autistic reproductive and gynecological healthcare. Gemma is a member of the Westminster Commission on Autism and an Associate with the National Development Team for Inclusion where she's contributed to a number of commissioned reports, projects and inquiries aimed at improving service provision for autistic and neurodivergent people within the UK, NHS England and Local Authorities.

Introduction

Section 1 - Considers different perspectives on how communication and shared meaning is achieved
1: Knowing and understanding by being in the world
2: Knowing and understanding others
3: Making sense in a complex world

Section 2 - Provides a critical summary of what has been meant by the term 'autism' since its conception
4: So, what is autism?
5: Autistic language use: a short history

Section 3 - A suggestion for how we might understand why communication often breaks down between autistic and non-autistic people
6: The Double Empathy Problem
7: Mind the gap
8: But how's that relevant?

Section 4 - considers the social exclusion of autistic people and how this can add to the communication breakdowns and impact access to services and quality of life.
9: The importance of getting it right
10: The importance of intersectional thinking
11: Towards a connected, inclusive society