4. Crossing Borders: Neurodivergent and Neuroqueer Resistance in India
Hybrid
Meeting ID: 924 0722 6250
Passcode: 660821
Panellists: Sanika Sardesai, Megha Manjari Mohanty, Karen Coelho
Chair: Prerna Tolani
Sanika Sardesai | Conceptualisation of the Neuroqueer Identity by Indian Young Adults within social media
Abstract: This research investigates the lived experiences of neuroqueer Indian young adults, exploring the intersection of neurodiversity and queerness within the context of social media. Employing a qualitative, phenomenological approach, this study examines how individuals aged 18-25, identifying with neurodivergent and LGBTQIA2S+ identities, construct and internalize their neuroqueer identities in digital spaces. Grounded in social constructivism, the research acknowledges the formative role of social interaction in identity formation, particularly within online communities. Given the neurodiversity movement's origins in online organizing, this study aims to illuminate how social media serves as a crucial platform for Indian neuroqueer individuals to navigate identity, connect with peers, access information, and engage in activism.
Semi-structured interviews will delve into participants' experiences with platforms like Reddit, Twitter, and Instagram, focusing on their initial encounters with neuroqueer terminology, the role of social media in understanding these concepts, and their experiences of online solidarity as well as their commitment to activism in these digital spaces. Additionally, because rhetoric around this intersection in India reflects a certain type of urbanised, westernised culture (largely because these identities remain inaccessible to native speaker, owing to their roots in western paradigm,) the study will critically examine the influence of Western paradigms on neurodivergent and queer identity construction in India, aiming to problematise and decolonize existing frameworks and address the historical oversight of colonialism in disability scholarship. By exploring the nuances of language, shifting labels, and cultural frame-switching, this research also seeks to understand how Indian neuroqueer individuals negotiate their identities within a globalized digital landscape.
The research question posed is this: How do Indian young adults at the intersection of neurodivergence and LGBTQIA2S+ construct and internalize neuroqueer identity within social media, and how does this influence their self-expression and online engagement?" The objectives of such a research include understanding the construction and internalization of neuroqueer identity in India, addressing the underrepresentation of these intersecting identities in Indian academia, gauging the impact of language on identity, and understanding how digital conceptualizations inform activism and engagement.
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Megha Manjari Mohanty (Online) | Cinematic Biosociality: Mobilizing the Medical Model and Neurodiversity Paradigm in Bollywood Films on Mental Illness
Abstract: The validity and usefulness of the inclusion of mental illnesses– which have traditionally been categorized and understood via the medical model– under the paradigm of neurodiversity remains a subject of ongoing debate (Rothstein 2012; Chapman 2019; Cascico 2025). Empirical research by Knopes (2024) suggests that, in practice, individuals with mental health conditions draw upon both the medical and the neurodiversity models to understand, explain and navigate their experiences. This challenges the theoretical assumptions that both of these frameworks are mutually exclusive and demonstrates that under real-life circumstances, there exists a pluralistic way in which these models function in tandem to explain the “complex relationships between illness, impairment and society” (Knopes 2024, 21).
This paper analyzes two Bollywood (Hindi) movies– 15 Park Avenue (2005), which explores Schizophrenia and U me aur Hum (2008), centered around early onset Alzheimer’s– to analyze how these narratives engage with both the medical and neurodiversity models to construct a certain (neuro)biological citizenship (Rose and Novas 2007; Bownlow and O’Dell 2013) to foster awareness and counter cultural stereotypes associated with mental illness, that is, to fulfill a “biosocial” function (Rabinow 1996).
This paper argues that in order to dispel culturally rooted misconceptions about mental illness as the result of a moral flaw, these movies endorse the medical explanations of the conditions they portray. At the same time, they also offer positive portrayals of resilience of the individuals with the illness, not in an effort to romanticize the condition but to counter reductive and simplistic narratives of helplessness and incapacity. Drawing on the work of Raquel Medina (2018), this paper demonstrates how these narratives develop a new socio-cultural imagery around these conditions and in doing so, become a site of biosociality, bridging scientific and social understandings of mental illness via the medium of film.
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Karen Coelho | No Masks, No Margins: An Exploration of Neuro-Queer Lived Experiences, Mental Health and Safe Spaces in India.
Abstract: This study explored the lived experiences of neurodivergent and queer individuals in India, focusing on intersections of mental health, caste, education, family dynamics, romantic and platonic relationships, medical access, and safe spaces. Drawing from neuroqueer theory (Walker, 2021), it challenged the pathology paradigm and affirmed the rejection of neuronormativity and heteronormativity as integral to human diversity. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, 15 in-depth interviews were conducted with neurodivergent and queer individuals (ages 20-30) across India to examine their lived experiences, mental health, and safe spaces.
The findings of the study highlighted how neuro-queer individuals navigated societal constraints, often facing alienation in childhood, exclusion in educational and medical settings, and pressures to conform within families and relationships. Many participants reported internalized stigma, forced masking, and the expectation to adhere to neurotypical and heteronormative standards, leading to emotional exhaustion and identity fragmentation. Educational institutions and workplaces often failed to provide accommodations, while medical professionals dismissed neurodivergence, reinforcing a cycle of erasure. Romantic and platonic relationships were shaped by the struggle to find partners and friends who understood both neurodivergence and queerness, with some experiencing rejection, while others actively created communities by diverging from societal norms that lacked a blueprint for the fulfilling relationships they needed.
Caste emerged as a significant factor influencing access to diagnosis, mental healthcare, and community support. Upper-caste participants had greater access to resources and spaces, while those from indigenous and marginalized caste backgrounds reported experiencing double marginalization, educational, workplace, and healthcare-related barriers, lack of established models, and limited access to queer- and neurodivergent-affirming spaces. Unlike the radical fluidity emphasized in neuroqueer theory, participants found comfort and validation in structured discussions about identity, using clear categorization to navigate their experiences. However, there was still a common recognition of the fluidity of labels, the restrictions they brought, and the downsides of identity politics. Shared themes emerged in the importance of safe spaces—online platforms, peer networks, and queer-affirming communities acted as crucial avenues for self-expression and resilience. Participants shared political opinions, values, and interests, further detailing their experiences of identity, community, and resistance within the Indian socio-cultural landscape.
This study highlighted the urgent need for intersectional, anti-caste, neuroqueer-affirming approaches to education, workplaces, mental healthcare, and social support systems, especially in today’s global climate. By centering lived experiences, this analysis explored how neuroqueer individuals in India navigated identity, mental health, and safe spaces, truly embodying No Masks, No Margins.
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Speaker Bios:
Sanika Sardesai: My name is Sanika Sardesai and I am a senior student at the Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts, Pune. My interest in neurodivergent research can be traced back to the nature of my reflexivity in psychology. Growing up, I almost always took notice of how I differed from my peers and those around me in terms of functioning, self expression and just having vastly different bandwidths for different things. It was around the age of fourteen that I cultivated a habit of noting down everything they passed up and experienced until a pattern emerged. Having spent two years in isolation, owing to the global pandemic, I decided to seek professional help to aid my constant deliberations on matters of mental health and well being. I was nineteen, when I got diagnosed with A.D.H.D, a label that equipped me with the ability to finally make sense of my internal and external world. Eventually stumbling upon the neurodiversity movement, I was able to locate my perceptions, emotions and experiences in situations much larger than me. I began to find refuge in a collective normality that wasn’t privy to me before and it helped empower me to hold the same space for those around me that such discourse did for me. It was only a couple years later when I came across the term neuroqueer that I was able to give shape to the other dimensions of this identity as well. More particularly, I now have a lens to make sense of the identities of my friends who identified with both the communities and trace the nature of their activism as well.
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Megha Manjari Mohanty: Megha Manjari Mohanty is a PhD student at the Department of English, University of Hyderabad. Her doctoral work lies in the area of Health Humanities; it is a study of memoirs by persons diagnosed with bipolar disorder and also by caregivers of/to such individuals. It focuses on the importance of these memoirs as an indispensable source of knowledge about, and an entry into, the experience of the illness, writing back to its medical, social and cultural production She is interested in graphic narratives, popular culture and memory studies as well.
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Karen Coelho: I am an autistic, trans, Bahujan person from Karnataka and my pronouns are they/them. I am nearing completion of my MA in Applied Psychology (Clinical and Counseling) at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. I also hold a BA in Sociology, Psychology, and Communicative English from St. Aloysius Deemed to be University, Mangalore. My research focuses on neuro-queer lived experiences, mental health, and safe spaces in India. I am committed to reshaping mental healthcare by challenging both colonial and Brahminical ideas. This involves centering disabled, queer, and DBA folk by prioritizing community-based care and community-centered research over individualized therapy approaches.