Autistic Self-Advocacy, Neurodiversity and Early Intervention

We were privileged to have Andrea Fernando (Paediatric Mainstream SLT, ST Links Mentor) and Serena Lo (Special School SLT, ST Links Founder) co-lead this journal club on autistic self-advocacy and neurodiversity. This is part one of our series hoping to explore a range of journals behind neurodiversity and its implications on our practice as SLTs. 

We had insightful discussions and learnings coming from therapists who are at different stages of their journey. We discussed our views on neurodiversity, disability and shared key points from the paper.

Here are some of my learnings from the journal:

• It is important to be mindful of our own understanding and definition of 'disability' and the impact of this on how we assess, describe and plan therapy.

• There may be traits within a condition that can be debilitating, but it is important to consider whether that behaviour or trait is harming the individual or the people around them before considering to intervene.

Have you read this journal article? What are your thoughts?

We would love to hear your thoughts - feel free to email us on speechtherapistslinks@gmail.com