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Purpose: We critically examine the idea of neurodiversity, or the uniqueness of all brains, as the foundation for the neurodiversity movement, which began as an autism rights movement. We explore the neurodiversity movement's potential to support cross-disability alliances that can transform cultures.

Methods/Approach: A neurodiverse team reviewed literature about the history of the neurodiversity movement and associated participatory research methodologies and drew from our experiences guiding programs led, to varying degrees, by neurodivergent people. We highlight two programs for autistic university students, one started by and for autistics and one developed in collaboration with autistic and nonautistic students. These programs are contrasted with a national self-help group started by and for stutterers that is inclusive of “neurotypicals.”

Findings: Neurodiversity-aligned practices have emerged in diverse communities. Similar benefits and challenges of alliance building within versus across neurotypes were apparent in communities that had not been in close contact. Neurodiversity provides a framework that people with diverse conditions can use to identify and work together to challenge shared forms of oppression. However, people interpret the neurodiversity movement in diverse ways. By honing in on core aspects of the neurodiversity paradigm, we can foster alliances across diverse perspectives.

Implications/ Values: Becoming aware of power imbalances and working to rectify them is essential for building effective alliances across neurotypes. Sufficient space and time are needed to create healthy alliances. Participatory approaches, and approaches solely led by neurodivergent people, can begin to address concerns about power and representation within the neurodiversity movement while shifting public understanding.

Purpose – This research considers how self-help groups (SHGs) and self-help organizations (SHOs) contribute to consumerist trends in two different societies: United States and United Kingdom. How do the health care systems and the voluntary sectors affect the kinds of social changes that SHGs/SHOs make?

Methodology/approach – A review of research on the role of SHGs/SHOs in contributing to national health social movements in the UK and US was made. Case studies of the UK and the US compare the characteristics of their health care systems and their voluntary sector. Research reviews of two community level self-help groups in each country describe the kinds of social changes they made.

Findings – The research review verified that SHGs/SHOs contribute to national level health social movements for patient consumerism. The case studies showed that community level SHGs/SHOs successfully made the same social changes but on a smaller scale as the national movements, and the health care system affects the kinds of community changes made.

Research limitations – A limited number of SHGs/SHOs within only two societies were studied. Additional SHGs/SHOs within a variety of societies need to be studied.

Originality/value of chapter – Community SHGs/SHOs are often trivialized by social scientists as just inward-oriented support groups, but this chapter shows that local groups contribute to patient consumerism and social changes but in ways that depend on the kind of health care system and societal context.

Writings about language and speech impairments (SLI) have been present for many centuries (Smith, 2004). Unfortunately, early historical accounts tended to reflect negatively upon individuals with SLI. For example, Van Riper and Erickson (1996) related that during the Roman times, an individual who stuttered was placed into a cage for entertainment purposes. According to these authors, citizens passing would throw coins into the person's cage to get him to talk. During the late 1800s, the profession of speech-language pathology began as an avocation of certain professionals, notably doctors, educators, and elocutionists (public speakers), who were interested in helping others improve their speech. American doctors studied under the auspices of European doctors who treated people with communication disorders. The two most common disorders that were treated then were dysfluency (stuttering) and speech sound errors (articulation) (Duchan, 2002). Treatment was available for the above disorders, however, the programs were not in public schools and the results of intervention were mixed (Smith, 2004).

In recent decades there has been much interest and activity in the application of mathematical ideas for controlling inventory. However most of this has been related to the control of stock products whose demand is smooth and continuous. When demand is lumpy these methods are inefficient in their attempts to minimise thé operating cost. A simple regression model is developed for computing optimal (s, S) policies for items with lumpy demand patterns. Continuous review of inventory level is assumed and the lead time demand is approximated by the stuttering Poisson distribution. A grid of 864 known optimal policies has been used to provide the data for the calibration of the regression models. Numerical models are used to illustrate this approach. Extensive computational results show that this model provides excellent performance in estimating the optimal values of the control parameters s and S for wide ranges of demand and cost parameters.

The aim of this article is to explore how the employees of a Danish family-owned company identify with the heritage identity of their company. More specifically, the purpose is to study how the employees interpret certain historical events and values in their efforts to make sense of which heritage identity traits have remained meaningful for them over the passage of time and what these historical events and traits mean to their identification with the company.

The investigation is based on 19 in-depth interviews with employees. A critical discourse analysis approach is adopted to uncover the discursive dynamics appearing across the employees' interpretations of historical events and values.

The study indicates that heritage identity represent a complex and dynamic resource for employees' organizational identification. Therefore, this article argues that it could be a challenge for management to maintain a stable and enduring heritage identity, because the employees' interpretations and consequently their organizational identification is subject to continual revision and under influence by a dynamic and constantly changing social context.

The findings of this study is limited to the specific context of one company. Further research could investigate the same topics when interviewing employees across the national borders of a global family company in times of change.

Management need to identify whether different generations of employees develop a strong or weak identification with certain heritage identity traits and whether there are competing or compatible targets of heritage identification among these generations.

This study illuminates the potential challenges related to the maintenance and preservation of heritage identity in a company with roots to a strong founding family, which operates in a constantly changing environment.

Disorders of speech and language include myriad diagnoses that vary in incidence and prevalence across age span and cultures. Disorders can range from those that do not impinge upon general communication, learning or psychosocial function, such as a mild speech disturbance, like a lisp, to global aphasia with a complete lack of communication ability. The short- and long-term effects of these impairments are often directly related to the age at onset, duration, co-morbidities, access to intervention by qualified professionals, and the societal response to the disability. In cultures that take a dim view of any type of deviation from the norm, there may be less access to diagnosis and treatment, as well as a hesitancy to seek out available options for treatment. Additionally, for those countries in which there are larger issues of general health, economic support, and quality of care, the nature of the disability may receive little or no attention simply due to national priorities or limited access to resources. Although, globally, disorders of speech and language are not exclusively limited to those countries with poorer health outcomes, in general, speech and language services may be less accessible or absent in poverty-stricken nations of the world. In many cases, these countries are at greater risk for many of the disorders simply due to environmental and social conditions, such as lack of early access to health care and preventative interventions. This chapter explores Global Perspectives on Speech and Language Impairments.

The purpose of this paper is to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds his/her own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

The UK TV sitcom “Open All Hours” is a truly terrible example of convenience retailing. The situation is that of a corner shop in Northern England run by a cantankerous middle aged man with a pronounced stutter, who variously abuses, gossips about or tries to flatter his customers. Inventory is massive, point of sale technology primitive, and as the title suggests, opening hours are long. Hilarity ensues.

This study provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and an easy-to-digest format.