Neuroqueer is a term used to describe the overlap between neurodivergence and queerness, and also an intentional resistance to norms around cognition, gender, sexuality, communication, and behavior.

For some, neuroqueer is an identity — being both neurodivergent and queer (as in, “I am neuroqueer”). It can also be used as a verb or practice (“to neuroqueer”), naming ways of queering expectations about how people are supposed to think, feel, communicate, relate, or move through the world. In this sense, neuroqueering challenges ideas of normality shaped by ableism, heteronormativity, and rigid social rules.

Neuroqueer theory explores how norms around neurological functioning (neuronormativity) and norms around gender and sexuality (heteronormativity) are deeply intertwined, suggesting that challenging one often involves challenging the other.

Neuroqueer offers language for experiences that don’t fit neatly into existing categories, and for claiming authenticity, creativity, and agency at the edges of dominant norms.

*The term neuroqueer emerged around 2008 through the work of Nick Walker, Athena Lynn Michaels-Dillon, and M. Remi Yergeau.