Improving our understanding of neurodiversity
08 October 2026
Richard Kerridge, History Subject Advisor and Mark Fowle, History Teacher
It’s not often a session at the Historical Association’s Annual Conference moves you to tears. Well, that happened this year in Newcastle. And not just me, I definitely saw others in the room wiping tears away during Mark Fowle’s brilliant session on neurodiversity.
Mark didn’t set out to make us cry, but his compassionate delivery of such a moving history had everyone hanging on his every word. His words had a huge emotional impact. His telling of Donald Grey Triplett’s story tipped us over the edge. I hope this blog raises questions for you and your teaching teams.
Mark Fowle – a personal story
There can be no doubt that the concept of neurodiversity is now embedded in mainstream education. Whether we are discussing autism, ADHD or other forms of neurodivergence, teachers in both state and independent mainstream schools will have noticed an increase in diagnoses, anxious parental enquires, and emails from the SENCO requesting classroom observations or sending the latest support plan.
Debates around neurodiversity resonate with me as our middle child, Reuben, was diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Condition four years ago when he was in Year 2. As a history teacher, these developments in my personal and professional life prompted some interesting questions:
What is the history of autism?
How and when did the concept of neurodiversity emerge?
Why don’t we talk about ‘Asperger’s Syndrome’ anymore?
Should we teach the history of autism and if so, what are the key questions to consider?
It quickly became clear that although we were all having to learn a lot more about neurodiversity in the classroom, and some us at home too, we were only at the beginning of a conversation as history teachers about how to address this development.
That was when I decided to lead a workshop at the Historical Association’s conference in Newcastle this year, which revealed just how many other history teachers are asking the same questions and want to know the answers.
A brief history of autism
Before around 1940, autism had no name. Many people with autism were misunderstood and children who behaved differently were often labelled ‘difficult’ or ‘mentally ill’. Some were sent to institutions because doctors did not understand autism. One of these children was Donald Grey Triplett. Donald was born in Mississippi, USA, in 1933. He showed unusual behaviours, including repeating words and avoiding eye contact. Despite this, he had an incredible memory and musical ability. His parents refused to give up on him and brought him home from an institution.
In 1943 the Austrian psychiatrist Dr Leo Kanner, who was working in the United States, studied Donald and ten other children. He called the condition ‘early infantile autism’. This was the first official description of autism in medical history. Kanner believed autism was very rare. Interestingly, at more the less the same time, Hans Asperger was studying similar children in Vienna. Asperger described children with social difficulties but strong intelligence and language. He called some of them ‘little professors’, and his work later influenced the idea of Asperger syndrome (more on this later).
It was not until 1966 that the first large scale study of autism took place, carried out by Victor Lotter in Middlesex, England. He estimated around 4.5 children in every 10,000 had autism, which helped researchers begin to understand how common it was.
Lorna Wing and Judith Gould expanded the definition in 1979. Studying children in Camberwell, London, they discovered autism was broader than doctors first thought. They created the ‘triad of impairments’: social interaction, communication and imagination/flexible thinking. They also introduced the idea of the autism spectrum.
Increasing awareness and changing terminology
Research into the idea of the autism spectrum grew in the 1980s. For me there is another personal connection here as my cousin, born in the north of England in the mid-1970s, was diagnosed with autism as a young child. Researchers in Sweden and other countries found more children with autism than expected, doctors realised autism could affect people in many ways, and awareness slowly increased in schools and hospitals.
By the 1990s, when I started secondary school, Asperger Syndrome had become better known, perhaps helped by the 1988 film ‘Rain Man’. Researchers Stephan Ehlers and Christopher Gillberg studied children with autism in mainstream schools.
Sula Wolff studied what she called ‘Subtle Autism’. Wolff researched children with milder social difficulties, many of whom became independent adults with jobs and families. Her work showed autism exists across a wide range of abilities.
In the late 1990s Judy Singer introduced the term ‘neurodiversity’, arguing that neurological differences, such as autism, are part of normal human variation. This encouraged people to focus more on acceptance and inclusion, not just ‘curing’ autism. By the turn of the millennium, surveys in Britain estimated around 1 in 100 people had autism. Researchers also studied adults with autism for the first time in major mental health surveys. This helped people understand that autism is lifelong.
Studies in countries including the USA, Sweden, and South Korea found autism was more common than previously thought. Some studies found many children with autism in mainstream schools had never been diagnosed. Researchers believed increasing awareness and broader definitions explained much of the rise.
By this point, further research had been carried out by Herwig Czech and others highlighting Hans Asperger’s ties to the Nazis during the 1940s, this led to the diagnostic term ‘Asperger’s Syndrome’ to be replaced with ‘Autistic Spectrum Disorder’ or ‘Autistic Spectrum Condition’.
As perspectives widen and understanding increases, some scholars such as Robert Chapman are now placing the history of neurodiversity in the context of older debates about Marxism and economic conditions.
Creating a world of acceptance
For me, this history is fascinating, especially as my own family – past, present and future – is so closely linked to it. I think it shows the complex web of networks crossing medical, intellectual, social and cultural borders, networks which form narratives which shape the lives of people, children, like my son, adults like my cousin, lives which must be recognised, celebrated and understood on their own terms.
As these debates continue, our language and histories will need to be continually revised, but this must be done with the full participation of people with neurodiversity. Teaching the history of neurodivergence is an essential part of creating a world of acceptance and understanding in which everyone can thrive.
World Mental Health Day
World Mental Health Day takes place every year on 10 October. As a society we are increasingly aware of how important looking after our own and other’s mental health is. Mark’s blog illustrates the importance of meeting people on their own terms. The World Mental Health Day website has ideas for anyone wishing to talk about their own mental health, or how to be a good listener.
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About the authors
Mark Fowle has taught history and politics for 15 years in state and independent settings and currently teaches at Rugby School.
Richard joined Cambridge International Assessment in September 2019 and Cambridge OCR in October 2022. Before that, he taught History for seventeen years. He was a Deputy Head of Sixth Form, Head of Humanities, SSAT Lead Practitioner as well as writing and contributing to textbooks and exam-board resources. He has presented at the Historical Association and Schools History Project Annual Conferences and for Keynote Education. Richard is very proud to be an Honorary Fellow of the Historical Association. He enjoys spending time with his family, friends and two dogs.
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