Valuing Writers from a Neurodiversity Perspective: Integrating New Research on Autism Spectrum Disorder into Composition Pedagogy

• Published in: Composition studies 2017-09, Vol.45 (2), p.91-112
• Main Authors: Tomlinson, Elizabeth, Newman, Sara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Access to Education; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Communication; Composition instruction; Disability; Instructional design; Learning; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Neurological Impairments; Neurosciences; Pedagogy; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Student Attitudes; Students with disabilities; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Theory of Mind; Universal design; Writing; Writing (Composition); Writing Attitudes; Writing Instruction; Writing Strategies
• ISSN: 1534-9322; 1542-5894; 2832-0093

This study investigates how individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) approach writing tasks. We draw from the largest sample of autistic individuals to date in our field to argue for the value of understanding ASD writers through the lens of neurodiversity. The neurodiversity approach focuses on autism as a part of human experience and values adaptive techniques, as opposed to dwelling on a cure for ASD. Our research expands and supports neurodiversity theory through the participants’ descriptions of their approaches to writing and the techniques they use to communicate successfully with audiences across areas of their lives—in classrooms, workplaces, and their own personal writings. To better address the needs of all students, on the basis of this research, we advocate for an approach to composition pedagogy that incorporates Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the classical notion of mētis.