Neurodiversity-Affirming Research and Practice SIG
Affiliated 2024. Formed via sprint group. Read more about the sprint group process here.
Click Here to Join the Neurodiversity-Affirming Research and Practice SIG! You will be added as a member to the SIG and to the SIG's email listserv. You will receive those messages in daily digest form (by default). If you would like to change your email delivery preference, you can do so here.
Mission/Objectives
The SIG aims to:
- Build a supportive and accepting community that cultivates a sense of belonging among its members
- Provide continuing education that promotes neurodiversity-affirming research and practice
- Develop/collate and disseminate resources that support neurodiversity-affirming research and practice
- Increase visibility, inclusion, and representation of neurodivergent perspectives and needs within the ACBS community
- Advocate for inclusive, affirming research on topics of importance to neurodivergent people
- Address discrimination and ableism inside and outside ACBS, and foster reconciliation
The SIG further aims to establish open avenues through which members can provide feedback on the SIG/its activities and create opportunities for members to lead SIG-supported initiatives. The SIG will collaborate with existing ACBS SIGs to ensure neurodiversity-themed content does not become split across multiple groups (i.e., to streamline content for ACBS members and reduce administrative burden on existing SIGs).
Importantly, this SIG (and indeed the sprint that formed it) can only ever be a product of its members. It is imperative to identify, acknowledge, and address the barriers people face to participating, particularly in the context of a neurodiversity-themed SIG. The Steering Committee is dedicated to increasing pathways to participation and invites ACBS members to contact them via email with any comments or requests for ways the SIG could support their involvement. Steering Committee member email addresses are listed here.
This SIG is in its infancy and there is a lot of work to be done. We ask for members’ patience and support as we work towards our shared goals.
SIG Activities
The SIG is comprised of three core pillars:
- Advocacy and system-level pillar. Tasks include:
- Sponsoring neurodivergence-focused and neurodiversity-affirming submissions at the annual ACBS World Conference.
- Working alongside relevant Committees, and the Board as appropriate, to advance neurodiversity-affirming research and practice within ACBS.
- Facilitating reconciliation, acknowledgment, and redress for harm done to neurodivergent people through CBS therapies and related approaches.
- Improving accessibility of ACBS events.
- Community engagement pillar. Tasks include:
- Establishing open avenues for member feedback, facilitating regular community-based events.
- Hosting events for members’ professional development, and supporting member-led initiatives.
- Resource development and research dissemination pillar. Tasks include:
- Producing/compiling and disseminating neurodiversity-affirming resources for clinicians/researchers/other professionals.
- Amplifying neurodivergent perspectives and experiences in ACBS spaces.
Description of Membership
We welcome all members of ACBS with an interest in neurodiversity-affirming research and practice.
Guiding Values
Authenticity and safety – Being genuine and true to yourself. Cultivating a sense of closeness and connection through unmasking. Fostering safe, attuned disclosures of neurodivergence. Respecting and supporting personal autonomy and decisions not to disclose/not disclose.
Contribution – Striving to make a positive difference for neurodivergent people and the fields of neurodiversity-affirming practice and contextual behavioral science more broadly.
Collaboration and supportiveness – Working with community members in a mutually-supportive way. Honoring strengths and accommodating challenges associated with different neurotypes. Cultivating compassion, fairness, and an openness to others’ perspectives. Being willing to turn to others to achieve optimal outcomes for the group.
Dissemination – Promoting research, training, and practice that addresses the needs and priorities of neurodivergent people.
Inclusion and representation – Striving for an expansive and compassionate community that embraces all aspects of neurodiversity and intersectionality. Centering neurodivergent voices; “nothing about us without us.” Attending to equity and equality of opportunities. Finding ways to listen, support, and amplify the voices of those who have greater barriers to participation.
Justice and advocacy – Courageously challenging neuro-normative standards, ableism, and epistemic injustice. Advocating for reform and accommodations. Seeking avenues to redress harm and increase pathways to effective, neurodiversity-affirming support. Leveraging privilege in solidarity.
Learning – Acquiring knowledge, skills, and insights through an ongoing commitment to growth, self-improvement, listening to neurodivergent perspectives, and acknowledging the validity of lived experience.
Pragmatism: Seeking novel and innovative solutions while recognizing the inherent need for compromise in a neurodiverse group. Seeking practical, achievable, and incremental change. Being willing to take small, imperfect steps rather than getting stuck striving for unattainable ideals.
Transparency and integrity: Being open and honest in communication and decision-making processes. Following through on commitments and seeking help when needed.