Today in one of my sessions, the phrase “peer-reviewed autistic” came up. Every time I hear it it feels so heart-warming to know that this approach is appearing more often in the world. So in my wandering mind, I find myself imagining, for some reason this phrase in the context of forests…
Maybe that's because I've recently been re-reading The Magic Faraway Tree!
Imagine a forest where every tree grows differently. Imagine that for centuries, botanists with narrow vision have studied only the tallest, straightest pines, declaring them the "correct" way of growing. They've measured these trees with rigid rulers, mapped their branches with precise calipers, and created complex taxonomies that exclude the gnarled oak, the twisting maple, the resilient birch that bends with the wind.
The autistic experience is like these overlooked trees - diverse, intricate, beautiful in ways that defy standardised measurement.
In this forest of neurodiversity, the medical model has been a harsh forester, seeking to prune and shape trees to match a single, prescribed template. But the trees themselves know their own truth. They whisper to each other of root systems intertwined, of unique adaptations, of survival strategies that cannot be captured by external observation.
"Peer reviewed autistic" is the moment when the trees begin to speak for themselves.
It's a radical act of reclamation - where autistic people, especially those from marginalised communities, reject the clinical gaze that has long objectified and misunderstood them. Women who were overlooked because they didn't fit the "male prototype" of autism. People of colour whose neurodivergence was misinterpreted through racist medical frameworks. Non-binary and transgender individuals whose experiences were flattened and invalidated.
Just as a forest is richest in its biodiversity, neurodivergence is not a problem to be solved, but an ecosystem to be celebrated. It's a profound decolonisation of understanding - challenging not just medical frameworks, but fundamental assumptions about human experience, communication, and worth.
To state one’s self as peer reviewed autistic becomes a radical act of collaborative knowledge-making. Imagine the trees not just growing, but communicating - roots intertwining beneath the surface, sharing nutrients, warning of dangers, supporting one another's growth in ways invisible to the casual observer. In my own journey, my identity as an autistic person came from immersion in autistic blogs, biographies and podcasts. The autistic writers and speakers were the peers that helped me know the truth of my neurodivergent identity.
So, for me, reflecting on this further, the transformative potential of “peer-reviewed” lies in several key areas:
Epistemological Shift: Traditional medical models are like satellite images that see only the forest's surface. Peer-reviewed autism is the ground-level experience - the intricate mycelial networks, the subtle interactions, the complex ecosystem that can only be understood from within. It transforms knowledge from a top-down hierarchy to a collaborative, horizontal web of understanding.
Healing and Validation: For many autistic individuals, especially those multiply marginalised, this approach is a form of collective healing. It's like discovering that the perceived "oddities" of your growth are not flaws, but unique adaptations. The gnarled oak is not broken - it has simply survived storms the pine never encountered.
Redefining Support: Instead of intervention and correction, peer-reviewed autism suggests cultivation. It's about creating environments that allow neurodivergent individuals to thrive on their own terms. Like understanding that some trees need shade, some need specific soil conditions, some need to grow at their own pace.
Research Revolution: Traditional research has been extractive - taking observations without true understanding. Peer-reviewed autism is participatory. It's the difference between someone studying a forest from a distance and being part of the forest's own process of understanding itself.
I understand that for many people, there is a continuing desire for medical diagnosis, and there are many reasons for choosing to go ahead with this. I do at the same time think that there is a wonderful place for peer-reviewed autism in the journey towards identifying as neurodivergent.
Comments