From Eugenics to Neurodiversity Webinar with Dr. Sneha Mathur

The purpose of this presentation is to provide an introductory overview of the primary historical issues, questions, concerns, and developments that directly (and often without our awareness) impact our current thought and action around disability and inclusion of disabled people in society. While we often assume a “current state of affairs” or “way things are” with the treatment of people of people with disabilities, we tend to have little understanding of how what we think is currently going on actually came about. This presentation examines the historical underpinnings of and precursors to the current psychological theories and practices concerning disabled people in American society today. The focus is to see how our efforts are best spent on the more recent activities that we can conceptually and thematically relate to current day issues and practices within Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). In relation to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), given the propensity of non-evidence based, “fad” and pseudoscientific interventions, particular emphasis will be given to evaluating evidence-based treatment (including ABA) and understanding best practices for the autistic population. This presentation will also assess autism throughout the life time, from early diagnosis to adulthood. Attendees will learn to view social issues from a neurodiverse lens, understanding and learning from the lived experiences of autistic individuals.