ABSTRACT
This chapter presents examples from research conducted in both face–to–face and online forums in order to explore the relative influence of technological spaces and the impact and pertinence of these in face–to–face contexts. The impact of a discourse of neurodiversity in the research was evident in both online and face–to–face communities, highlighting the difficulties of disentangling online and face–to–face spaces. The chapter argues that the online world, and in particular social media, has become so pervasive in everyday interactions with the advent of technology that it is now very much part of everyday life. It explores divergent understandings through considerations of identity construction within different technological spaces and the potential impacts. The operation of a supportive, accommodating, enabling environment, be it online or face–to–face, can therefore be considered crucial in key contexts such as education or the workplace in order to positively construct the abilities of difference.
