Neurodiversity Matters: Morénike Giwa Onaiwu on antiracist advocacy

In this episode, Sohail speaks to Dr Morénike Giwa Onaiwu about forthcoming edited anthology Neurodiversity en Noir, platforming Black neurodivergent voices. They discuss Morénike’s work countering the exclusion of Black people in neurodiversity research, and ask whether qualitative work's underlying assumptions have led to complacency in this area. Situating all this within the broader structures where qualitative research takes place, they ask: what can institutions and the people within them be doing to fix it?

Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, PhD is a global human rights and disability justice consultant, advocate, author, educator, and parent in a neurodiverse, multicultural, twice-exceptional serodifferent biological and adoptive family. A prolific writer and social scientist/activist with both lived and learned expertise whose work focuses on participatory research, meaningful community involvement, intersectionality, and accessibility, Morénike, a recognized leader and content expert in various collaborative endeavors, serves as founder/principal operator of Advocacy Without Borders, a nonprofit initiative offering lectures, advocacy, research, and related projects as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion training. Morénike, who is based in the US, maintains membership within several executive boards and is a highly sought after keynote lecturer and public speaker who has presented at the White House, the United Nations, and numerous peer-reviewed international conferences. Notable publications of Morénike's include over a dozen monograph chapter contributions, digital scholarship, peer-reviewed articles and editorial work.

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