A scoping review of neurodiverse women's representation in feminist research in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This scoping review investigates representation of neurodiverse women in feminist research across Sub-Saharan Africa revealing a significant gap in the comprehension of the interplay between gender, neurodiversity, and cultural context. This study is underpinned by the Feminist Disability theory and Ubuntu philosophy. The analysis encompassed publications from two international and two regional databases: Scopus, EBSCO, the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) Online Repository (AfriRep), and the African Disability Rights yearbook. Peer reviewed journals across multiple disciplines from the Taylor and Francis Group’s online platform were also analyzed. Our systematic search indicates a lack of African feminist research on women with Neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs), despite an expanding body of literature concerning women with sensory and physical disabilities. The review pinpointed several factors contributing to this dearth in NDCs research in African contexts: limited research on gender-specific challenges related to NDCs diagnosis and intervention, over reliance on foreign-developed knowledge body and diagnostic tools for NDCs, African cultural and societal perspectives on NDCs and limited local data on generated on NDCs. These findings highlight the pressing need for culturally relevant research methodologies that incorporate Ubuntu epistemologies for conceptualizing the nature of NDCs and support of neurodiverse individuals. Funding is essential to develop local research capacity and creation of new local relevant knowledge on NDCs

This scoping review investigates representation of neurodiverse women in feminist research across Sub-Saharan Africa revealing a significant gap in the comprehension of the interplay between gender, neurodiversity, and cultural context. This study is underpinned by the Feminist Disability theory and Ubuntu philosophy. The analysis encompassed publications from two international and two regional databases: Scopus, EBSCO, the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) Online Repository (AfriRep), and the African Disability Rights yearbook. Peer reviewed journals across multiple disciplines from the Taylor and Francis Group’s online platform were also analyzed. Our systematic search indicates a lack of African feminist research on women with Neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs), despite an expanding body of literature concerning women with sensory and physical disabilities. The review pinpointed several factors contributing to this dearth in NDCs research in African contexts: limited research on gender-specific challenges related to NDCs diagnosis and intervention, over reliance on foreign-developed knowledge body and diagnostic tools for NDCs, African cultural and societal perspectives on NDCs and limited local data on generated on NDCs. These findings highlight the pressing need for culturally relevant research methodologies that incorporate Ubuntu epistemologies for conceptualizing the nature of NDCs and support of neurodiverse individuals. Funding is essential to develop local research capacity and creation of new local relevant knowledge on NDCs