Student Research

Historical Harm, Repacked 

Year 2 student Jessica Perry presented a paper at an international social work conference September,  2024. Her paper was "Historical harm repacked as helping: Why we need to reflect on the attitudes and treatment of Neurodivergent individuals by health care professionals and society." It grew out of thinking that she had begun at OCCU 6002 (Social Influences on Occupational Performance) and continued to pursue OCCU 6006 (Applied Research). In the paper, she linked current healthcare approaches to neurodivergence with the eugenics practices of Nazi Vienna intended to erase neurodivergent people. Drawing on research and lived experience, Jess challenged constructs like remediation and masking, highlighting the links between categorizing neurodivergence and the work of Nazi psychiatrist Hans Asperger. You can see her conference abstract here.
 
The paper was very well received, and Jess was encouraged to continue developing it for possible publication in the journal Conversations. She pursued this opportunity on top of a heavy course load in the fall of 2024, supported by instructors Kaitlin Sibbald and Brenda Beagan. Brenda commented, "Jess has crafted a well-developed argument that interventions for autism, in particular, rely on subconscious ideas tying people's worth to their productivity, a notion that traces back to eugenics movements. Striving to help people appear neurotypical unintentionally causes harm, which she shows is rooted in a terrible history." The journal is still reviewing Jess's paper. Fingers crossed it will get published soon!