About us

While some people seek diagnosis, others resist the use of diagnostic labels and argue diagnosis can be used as a form of social control. The investigation will explore how a diagnosis is experienced by adults. What are the benefits of, and objections to the diagnostic label of autism? What are the consequences of diagnosis? How is diagnostic categorisation achieved by clinicians? What impact does a diagnostic label have on people’s preconceptions? Autism diagnosis is particularly relevant because the label is increasingly applied, the diagnosis has clear costs and benefits, and its application is sometimes disputed.

Our investigation will document and analyse the experiences of adults in the neurodiversity movement as well as and including adults with autism diagnosis. We hope to gather the experiences of adults who have sought a clinical diagnosis of autism by working with our partners in the NHS. Several workshops will teach film-making skills to adults with autism. Here we work alongside and get to know some of our research participants.

We also work with some amazing autistic artists.