Meeting up in broken word/times: communication, temporality and pace in neuromixed writing.

Researchers used letter writing between autistic and non-autistic people to explore how different brains communicate. They found that writing letters together allowed people to share ideas in their own time and way, rather than forcing everyone to communicate the same way. The study challenges negative views of autism and shows how autistic people's different approaches to time and communication can be valuable.

This theoretical article explores neurodiversity through collaborative letter writing between autistic and non-autistic researchers. The study challenges deficit-based autism perspectives by examining communication, temporality, and pace in 'neuromixed' writing practices. Authors investigate how letter writing can facilitate neurodiverse collective research and cultural translation across neurotypes. The work emphasizes 'counter narratives' that reclaim personhood from dehumanizing perspectives and experiments with autistic approaches to time, sensory processing, and narrative structure.

The study suggests pen pal correspondence as a method for responsible cross-neurotype translation and highlights both challenges and opportunities in neurodiverse collaborative writing practices.

Suggests potential value of written communication modalities and flexible temporal approaches in therapeutic settings. May inform development of neurodiverse-affirming practices that accommodate different communication styles and temporal processing needs rather than requiring conformity to neurotypical norms.

This is a theoretical exploration without empirical data collection or systematic methodology. No sample size, control groups, or quantitative measures are reported. The findings are based on subjective analysis of writing practices rather than controlled research design.

The article investigates letter writing as a way to explore neurodiverse collectives, neuromixed communication and neurodiverse research collaboration. From the perspective of neurodiversity studies and translation practice/studies, the article negotiates new perspectives of inherited images of neurological selves and others, such as the non-autistic as the 'typical' in contrast to the 'atypical' autistic person. Experimenting with autistic time, allowing different sensory modalities and different approaches to time, detail and narrative, the article challenges deficit approaches to autism. Through a letter writing practice the possibilities and challenges of subjectivity, cultural translation and writing as method are examined.

The article suggests that 'counter narratives' are important sources of knowledge as they reclaim personhood from dehumanising perspectives. By performing neuromixed conversation and dialogue with theoretical concepts, and pen palingas a fruitful form for responsible cross-neurotype translation, the article illuminates challenges and opportunities in neurodiverse collective writing.