The Public Relations Division of the National Communication Association recognized Scotti Branton, assistant professor in the Department of Communication, and Joel Reed, assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media, for their outstanding scholarship on neurodiversity in public relations Thursday.

Along with co-author Astrid Villamil at the University of Missouri, Reed and Branton won three national awards for their neurodiversity research at the NCA's annual convention in New Orleans.

The trio received the annual PRIDE Award for Outstanding Journal Article in Public Relations for their article "Branding Neurodiversity: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Communicative Capitalism and Change Empowerment Among Neurodiversity Workforce Intermediaries," published in the Journal of Public Relations Research in 2023.

The authors analyzed the websites and social media posts of neurodiversity employment advocacy organizations to understand how discourses of self-sufficiency and economic empowerment intersect with disability rights activism. They found that organizations often use language that stereotypes neurodivergent individuals and narrows the scope of neurodiversity in the name of economic empowerment.

Branton, Villamil and Reed were also recognized with the Top DE&I Paper Award, sponsored by the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Tennessee, for their paper "A Systemic View of Marginalization in Neurodivergent Employment Advocacy and Relationship Management Networks." The paper continues their investigation of employment advocacy through qualitative interviews of the leaders of neurodiversity workforce intermediaries.

In addition to their recognitions from the Public Relations Division, a third paper, "Configuring Neuroinclusion: Examining the Potentialities of Neurodivergency in Organizational DEI," was recognized as a top paper in the Organizational Communication Division of NCA.  

The authors funded their neurodiversity scholarship through a research grant from the Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society at Villanova University.