
Books & Papers
Professional Dialogue for Autism - by Jonathan Drury
Jonathan Drury
What happens when dialogue principles meet the autism support sector? Jonathan Drury's Autism Dialogue project gives equal voice to all participants, including those whose voices are most often spoken over, with the explicit aim of influencing those in power to change.
Jonathan Drury describes the foundational principles underpinning Autism Dialogue, a project oriented around facilitating genuine dialogue within and around autism support services. Central to his approach is the principle of 'no agenda': creating space where assumptions are suspended even as participants speak authentically as themselves, and where enquiry together carries as much weight as individual presence in the room. Drury argues that effective facilitation of this kind requires a conviction that the universe is inherently positive, alongside a willingness to allow a truly Professional Dialogical organisation to develop at its own evolutionary pace. He acknowledges that dialogue is a radical process and that some participants resist it on first encounter; the experience itself, however, tends to shift that resistance. The paper points toward what becomes possible when dialogue is applied not as a technique but as a structural commitment to equal voice within systems that have historically marginalised autistic people.
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