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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

Future Directions in Autism Diagnosis, Management, and Theory

Future directions in autism diagnosis management and theory

It is argued that refining autism diagnostic criteria without excluding historically underdiagnosed groups requires queer and crip theories, alongside decolonizing frameworks, to challenge the power relations that determine who gets to define autism.

The talk opens with two questions: how can autism diagnostic criteria be critically refined without further excluding historically underdiagnosed groups, and how can individuals, families, and communities be better supported given limited resources? It notes that discussions about the future of autism diagnosis and management involve competing theories and worldviews. Drawing on the history of queer theory and the rise of the neurodiversity movement, it examines past and present tensions over how autism is framed, particularly in relation to diagnosis and management. It argues that there is much to learn from the critical theories that helped reframe gender nonconformity from a pathology to be eradicated into a difference to be supported. It proposes that queer and crip theories, together with decolonizing frameworks, can challenge the power relations that define neurodiversity, and autism in particular, and act as gatekeepers; this could lead to a paradigm shift grounded in lived experiences of self and community, and to better outcomes. The talk explores parallels between autism history and queer history under four headings: who defines autism; contemporary and historical examples of viewing autism as an identity or a pathology; how critical theories enable challenges to ableism, which contributes to poorer mental health outcomes; and how queer and crip theories, within a decolonizing framework, can be used to reimagine not only more supportive therapies but also a more supportive world.

All WCP 2026 summaries