Vanaken, G. J., Mulkers, A., Segers, J., Hens, K., Steyaert, J. and Bervoets, J. (2025)

The Neurodivergent Movement has been criticised for a heavy focus on Autism and the Autistic experience. The authors of this article question if the movement has a place Tourettic people. Through in-depth interviews with six Tourettic adolescents aged between 14 and 17, the authors re-analyse the pre-existing interview data through the lens of the Neurodivergent Movement. Three themes became apparent: The (in)visibility of tics and the role of onlookers; negative aspects of tics and desiring Tourette’s to disappear; benefits and issues of creating Tourettic community. The authors suggest that there are aspects that overlap with an Autism-centred understanding of Neurodiversity such as masking, socially embedded experiences of disability and the value of community building. Other experiences need a more broad-church understanding of Neurodiversity and the Neurodivergent Movement such as lived experience of pain and distraction from tics. The article concludes that for a wider Neurodivergent Movement to ensure a place for Tourettic people lived experience must be taken into account in the discourse.

Full reference: 

Vanaken, G. J., Mulkers, A., Segers, J., Hens, K., Steyaert, J., & Bervoets, J. (2025). Can the Neurodiversity Movement Make Space for Tourette's? Dialoguing Lived Experiences and Theory. Neurodiversity, 3, 27546330251378383.