Re-Citing the Origins of Neuroqueer

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Sociology
• Queer Theory

Background:

• The term neuroqueer is often attributed to Nick Walker (2015).
• Recent scholarship questions the singular attribution of the term neurodiversity.
• This challenges the established narrative of neuroqueer's origin.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the collective origins of the term neuroqueer.
• To analyze the concept, theory, and practice of neuroqueer through its historical development.
• To explore the implications of a neuroqueer citation politics.

Main Methods:

• Archival research of online communities.
• Historiographical analysis of the term neuroqueer.
• Examination of the NeuroQueer blog (2013-2016) and alt.support.autism Usenet forum (2003).

Main Results:

• The term neuroqueer emerged from collaborative online conversations.
• Evidence points to earlier origins in the alt.support.autism Usenet forum (2003).
• Attribution to a single author obscures the term's collective development and community involvement.

Conclusions:

• The history of neuroqueer demonstrates a collective, rather than individual, origin.
• Rethinking citation practices is crucial for acknowledging community contributions in neuroqueer discourse.
• This challenges the notion of single-origin narratives in understanding neuroqueer identity and theory.