Judy Singer, the daughter of a Jewish mother who survived World War II, grew up in Australia. For many years, she worked as a computer consultant and later became a single mother. She noticed traits in her daughter that resembled the social difficulties of her mother. Later, Singer's daughter was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.[2][3] Singer has also described herself as "likely somewhere on the autistic spectrum".[4]
Before the diagnosis, Singer began studying sociology at the University of Technology Sydney and delved into British and American disability studies.[5][6][better source needed] While following the virtual activism of autistic and other neurologically different people in the mid-1990s, particularly on the Independent Living Mailing List (ILMV) forum, she met journalist Harvey Blume.[7] Due to accreditation of the origin of the term "neurodiversity" to Singer by Steve Silberman in his book NeuroTribes, Singer is often credited with the creation of the term neurodiversity[1] to represent both the idea of neurological diversity and to think about the existence of a social movement of neurological minorities that would also include the autism rights movement.[8][9][10] However, this term first appeared in publication in a 1998 article by Harvey Blume, a year before Singer included it in a book chapter discussing the development of the concept of "neurological diversity" online. In this chapter, Singer did not claim to have created the term, and only used it in passing.[1]
In Australia, Singer also created ASpar, a group to support families of autistic people. In 2016, she published the book Neurodiversity: The Birth of an Idea.[11]
Singer has distanced herself from the expansion of the term neurodiversity outside of her original focus on "high functioning" autism awareness when coining the term, stating: “I was very clear in my thesis that I was only talking about Asperger’s."[12]
