A diverging story: neurodivergent histories of Singapore

Abstract

Singapore’s post-independence narrative is one that emphasizes survival, and the use of manpower in building the nation and its economy. It is a narrative that has focused on industry, but overlooks disability. Disabled Singaporeans are conspicuously missing from the Singaporean success story. Efforts have been made to emphasize the activities of disabled individuals in self-advocacy, but one subset, neurodivergence, is notably missing. There is a lack of academic work on the neurodivergent perspective, which this thesis will address. This thesis locates neurodivergent Singaporean perspectives and examine its trajectory within Singapore’s history. In so doing this thesis constructs a narrative that reads the Singapore story and Singaporean society through a neurodivergent lens.

This project examines the contemporary history of neurodivergent perspectives and advocacy in Singapore over the last 40 years, tracing the neurodivergent experience in relation to state policy, voluntary organizations, and the rising neurodivergent self-advocacy movement.

Oral history methods are used to involve neurodivergent individuals in the research process and to better represent their perspective. From these lived experiences, there emerges an experience of ‘conditional inclusion’ which bases representation of neurodivergence on neoliberal ideas of productivity. However, there also emerges efforts to overturn such biases through neurodivergent visibility and advocacy.