Dinah Karen Crawshay Murray (27 May 1946 - 7 July 2021) was a writer, educator and campaigner for

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

people. She collaborated in developing the theory of

monotropism Monotropism is a cognitive strategy posited to be the central underlying feature of autism. A monotropic mind is one that focuses its attention on a small number of interests at any time, tending to miss things outside of this attention tunnel. The ...

as a way of explaining autism in terms of a tendency to focus intensely on a subject.

Early life

Murray was born in Hampstead, London, the daughter of Labour Party politician, Tony Greenwood, who was a member of

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

's cabinet. Her mother Jill Greenwood, was a writer who created and illustrated the pamphlet ''Make Do and Mend'', published during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and was co-founder of the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...

. Murray's godfather was the Labour Prime Minister of the time,

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...

. Murray attended

Byron House school Byron House School was an independent preparatory school in Highgate, London. History Byron House was founded in 1897 as a progressive prep school "favoured by London's intelligentsia and famous for its advanced teaching methods". Stephen Hawk ...

, Highgate and the

North London Collegiate School North London Collegiate School (NLCS) is an independent school with a day school for girls in England. Founded in Camden Town, it is now located in Edgware, in the London Borough of Harrow. Associate schools are located in South Korea, Jeju I ...

. She worked for

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, where she earned a degree in Linguistics and Anthropology in 1969.

Career

Murray was autistic, and spent most of her career researching, campaigning and working with autistic individuals. She went on to gain a PhD in Linguistics from University College London in 1986. She was a tutor at

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

's distance learning course on autism, WebAutism, from 1996 to 2013. In the 1990s she was a community support worker in London, an experience which led her to found APANA (Autistic People Against Neuroleptic Abuse), highlighting the overuse of tranquillisers given to

intellectually disabled Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation,Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signific ...

people. During those years, Murray collaborated with autistic associates Wenn Lawson and

Mike Lesser Michael John Lesser (28 September 1943 – 1 July 2015) was a mathematical philosopher and political activist. He was born in London. Early life The youngest member of the Committee of 100, he was sent, aged 16, to Wormwood Scrubs Prison alo ...

, to develop the theory of "

", an attempt to explain autism in terms of a tendency to focus on a single subject at a time. Seeing advantages of computers as communication tools for autistic people, she and Lesser founded the campaigning organisation, Autism and Computing. Their work contributed to the passage of the

Mental Capacity Act 2005 The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (c 9) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom applying to England and Wales. Its primary purpose is to provide a legal framework for acting and making decisions on behalf of adults who lack the capacity ...

. Her work included teaching and research, presenting at conferences, online and in person. In 2017, Murray was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the

National Autistic Society The National Autistic Society is the leading charity for autistic people and their families in the UK. Since 1962, the National Autistic Society has been providing support, guidance and advice, as well as campaigning for improved rights, serv ...

. She contributed to an on-line communications technology application, AutNav, which achieved funding from Scottish Autism just before she died.

Personal life

In 1970, Murray married David Murray, a philosopher and music critic, who died in 2016. They had three children of their own, as well as a foster child. After the

2019 United Kingdom general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party receiving a Landslide victory, landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 4 ...

returned a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

majority, she moved to

Dalgety Bay Dalgety Bay () is a coastal town and parish in Fife, Scotland. According to Fife Council, the town is home to , making this the eighth-largest place in Fife. The civil parish has a population of 10,777 (in 2011).Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS ...

Fife, Scotland Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i.e ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Dinah 1946 births 2021 deaths Alumni of University College London

Researchers Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

Daughters of life peers