Autistic Advocacy: Past, Present, and Future Directions

Gabor  Petri; Georgina  Watts

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-40858-8_544-1

Autistic Advocacy: Past, Present, and Future Directions

Gabor Petri^*
, Georgina Watts

^*Corresponding author for this work

Democracy Institute

Durham University

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report types › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary

Abstract (may include machine translation)

Autistic advocacy evolved in the early 1990s, a time when the discourse around autistic people was dominated by parents and professionals. Today its forms are increasingly diverse, autistic-led initiatives are more visible than ever, and autistic people, through representative organizations, are starting to shape policy and research. This entry provides an overview of the historical development of autistic advocacy and traces the varied strategies used to influence public discourse, policy, human rights, and the scientific community. This entry highlights persistent barriers which continue to challenge autistic advocates across social, political, and cultural contexts.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Disability
Editors	Gabriel Bennett, Emma Goodall
Publisher	Palgrave Macmillan
Pages	1-12
Number of pages	12
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-031-40858-8
ISBN (Print)	978-3-031-40858-8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40858-8_544-1
State	Published - 13 Jan 2026

Keywords

Autism Spectrum Disorder
Neurodiversity
Social Movements

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10.1007/978-3-031-40858-8_544-1

Cite this

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ER -

Autistic Advocacy: Past, Present, and Future Directions

Abstract (may include machine translation)

Keywords

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