Developing and Operationalizing a Critical Disability Physics Identity Framework: Investigating the Experiences of Neurodivergent Physicists at Various Career Stages

Neurodiversity is the celebration of the diversity of minds. It is the understanding that people think, sense, and behave in different ways, and the assertion that the non-normative ways which people and their minds operate are, in fact, good. Neurodivergent people are beginning to access higher education at much higher rates than ever before. Yet, disability studies scholars note that, once inside, success in navigating academia remains inaccessible for many neurodivergent students. On the other hand, neurodivergent students oftentimes report qualities which otherwise make them successful STEM professionals, such as different ways of solving problems, different spatial reasoning, or different methods of working. In this dissertation, I present a tool for investigating the identity formation of neurodivergent physics students, the Critical Disability Physics Identity (CDPI) framework, which takes a strengths-based approach to understanding identity through resource use and political agency. I operationalize this CDPI framework and use it to investigate and hold space for the experiences of neurodivergent postbaccalaureate nonacademic physicists, physics undergraduates, and physics graduate students. I conclude with a call to action for disability justice in physics. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]