Neuronormative atmospheres and the language of the pathology paradigm
Zamir Kadodia
Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences June 17, 2026 DOI: 10.1007/s11097-026-10180-0 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Autistic individuals |
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Phenomenology philosophy Affordance Vocabulary Philosophy of language Enactivism Privilege computing Embodied cognition Cognitive science Linguistics Cognitive psychology Neurotypical Epistemology Politics |
| Key points | Argues that deficit-based language about autism creates 'neuronormative atmospheres' that privilege neurotypical embodiment and that transitioning to neurodiversity-affirming language is an ethical and political intervention. |
Abstract
Abstract The language of the “pathology paradigm” is not merely a vocabulary for describing autism—it participates in shaping the “affective atmospheres” that autistic people inhabit and move through. Drawing on some recent contributions to the phenomenology of affective atmospheres from Joel Krueger, Tonino Griffero, and Enara García, this paper develops the concept of “neuronormative atmospheres”: affective environments that selectively weight landscapes of affordances in ways that privilege neurotypical styles of embodiment while backgrounding or normatively discouraging autistic styles of embodiment. Further, I argue that deficit-based language holds neuronormative atmospheres in place via its institutional embedding and its capacity for cross-contextual reactivation. Transitioning towards the neurodiversity paradigm and its neurodiversity-affirming language is therefore not merely a semantic matter, but an ethical and political intervention into the affective conditions under which social worlds are lived and made liveable.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |