Year: 2025
Type: dissertation
Abstract: From a humanist perspective and using a phenomenological approach, multiple accounts of neurodiversity are juxtaposed with quality of life theories and models. After outlining Aristotle’s Eudaimonia, Amartya Sen’s capability approach, and the Schalock and Verdugo model created in 2002, the validity of each theory or model is tested against the report of a lived experience of neurodiversity. The test used is based on the concept of Gary Albrecht, known as the “Disability Paradox”, an incongruence between the supposed quality of life based on a given theory and the actual reported quality of life of an individual with a disability. If the theory or model outlines a good life as out of reach for a given neurodiverse individual but they report otherwise with substantiated evidence, the theory or model fails the test. Each theory or model is paired with a neurodiverse narrative: Eudaimonia with Count Us In by Mitchell Levitz and Jason Kingsley, the capability approach with The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida, and Schalock and Verdugo’s model with Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin. Each theory and model pass the disability paradox test with certain critiques, therefore demonstrating that prominent quality of life theories and models suggest that neurodiverse individuals are likely capable of living a good life.
Author: Johnston, Emma
Institution: University of Colorado Boulder
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7112768031