We See Things They’ll Never See

Ableism is embedded in our daily lives. Social life, education, work, and, especially, mental health have been organised around rigid ideas of the 'ideal' and the 'normal' citizen—ideas that always exclude neurodiversity.

In this pathbreaking book, Chantelle Jessica Lewis and Jason Arday argue that the neurodiversity movement offers ways to mobilise against not only ableism but also other 'isms', including racism and capitalism. By focusing on the prevalence of neurotypical dominance and power— or 'neurotypical hegemony'—Lewis and Arday show how neurotypical dominance has often been used to justify and normalise some of our more harmful cultures around productivity and value.

Throughout the book, Lewis and Arday use theories of Blackness, feminism, class, and neurodivergence to offer a vision of solidarities across differences. They show that race, class, ethnicity, gender, and nation are just some of the social structures for which the politics of neurodiversity can produce an emancipatory analysis.

This is a book about applying social theory in practice, taking seriously how academic research and theory can be used outside of academic spaces. With We See Things They’ll Never See, Lewis and Arday issue a call to action—and a call for understanding, acceptance, and humility.