“What is Autism?” How is it defined? Researchers at the University of Edinburgh are involved in a unique multi-year project aimed at trying to understand social cognition in autism. This story reveals a remarkable group of women who are all autistic. They discuss their very personal struggles and journeys in a world that sometimes see them as “others.”
The project — which is very narrow in focus with a particular group of research participants — hopes to help refine what autism may mean and its implications for some of those who struggle with it. The project presents a “re-conceptualization of intelligence within a framework of neurodiversity,” say its researchers, “challenging the notion there is only one legitimate form of human intelligence.” The project hopes to shift the paradigm of autism: to see it as a “difference” rather than a disability.
By Richard Sergay