From concerns about an ‘autism epidemic’ to the MMR vaccine crisis, autism is a source of peculiar fascination in the contemporary media. Author Stuart Murray, himself the parent of an autistic child, contends that for all the coverage, autism rarely emerges from the various images we produce of it as a comprehensible way of being in the world—instead occupying a succession of narrative spaces as a source of fascination and wonder. A refreshing analysis and evaluation of autism within contemporary society and culture, Representing Autism establishes the autistic presence as a way by which we might more fully articulate our understanding of those with the condition, and what it means to be a human. “This is an outstanding volume of empathetic scholarship. . . . Representing Autism is a truly significant piece of cultural criticism about one of the defining conditions of our time.”—Mark Osteen, Loyola College
"This book is meant to cover the complete anatomy of a criminal case, from the initial encounter with law enforcement, through the bond hearing, through the use of experts, through plea bargaining or dismissal, through resolution, including a sentencing hearing to prison or probation"--
Naming Adult Autism is one of the first critiques of cultural and medical narratives of Autism to be authored by an adult diagnosed with this condition. Autism is a ‘social disorder’, defined by interactions and lifestyle. Yet, the expectations of normalcy against which Autism is defined have too rarely been questioned. This book demonstrates the value of the Humanities towards developing fuller understandings of Autistic adulthood, adapting theory from Adorno, Foucault and Butler. The chapters expose serious scientific limitations of medical assumptions that Autistic people are gifted at maths but indifferent to fiction. After interrogating such clichés in literature, cinema and television, James McGrath also explores more radical depictions of Autism via novels by Douglas Coupland, Margaret Atwood, Clare Morrall and Meg Wolitzer, plus poems by Les Murray and Joanne Limburg. Follow this link to see James McGrath in conversation with Kelly-Anne Watson at Leeds Beckett University: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQOotRZRzv4 Follow this link to view a content breakdown of the above interview: https://www.academia.edu/36406389/Naming_Adult_Autism_A_Conversation_winter_2017_ Follow this link to read a 'Seeking Sara' blog interview with James: https://seekingsara174.wordpress.com/2018/08/19/639/
This volume, the first scholarly book on autism and the humanities, brings scholars from several different disciplines together with adults on the autism spectrum to investigate the diverse ways that autism has been represented in novels, poems, autobiographies, films and clinical discourses, and to explore the connections and demarcations between autistic and "normal" creative expression.
This book examines autism from the tradition of analytic philosophy, working from the premise that Autism Spectrum Disorders raise interesting philosophical questions that need to be and can be addressed in a manner that is clear, jargon-free, and accessible. The goal of the original essays in this book is to provide a philosophically rich analysis of issues raised by autism and to afford dignity and respect to those impacted by autism by placing it at the center of the discussion.
Editor Jill Mullin is the recipient of the inaugural Felix in Art Award, presented by Extreme Kids & Crew "Drawing Autism highlights an 'area where individuals with autism can have great abilities.'...Jill Mullin, a clinical therapist, explores the recurring themes in art made by people with autism." --New York Times Book Review One of Brain Picking's Best Art, Design, and Photography Books of 2014 "This book is a testament to the power of art to reveal the inner world of people living with ASD." --Publishers Weekly "A jaw-droppingly beautiful book." --Library Journal Included in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's "96 Books For Your Summer Reading List" under "7 Visually Appealing Books" "Drawing Autism is not just a book about autism and art--it's a book about being human and expressing selfhood in all its beautiful, messy, complex forms. Add Drawing Autism to your wish list, tell your friends about it, and show it to your kids on the spectrum." --Autism/Asperger's Digest "Mullin, a behavior analyst, brings together fascinating works by 40 artists on the spectrum with their answers to her questions about their process." --The Boston Globe "Editor Jill Mullin has collected artwork from a host of painters and other graphic artists who are all somewhere on the spectrum. The fascinating and often lovely reprints in Drawing Autism help provide another perspective on the capabilities of people with autism." --Time Out New York "Mullin's clinical background in Applied Behavior Analysis, combined with more than a decade helping individuals with ASD, serve her well as the book's curator." --The Portland Phoenix " Editor Jill Mullin] has put together a beautiful and stimulating exhibition-in-a-book." --Story Circle Book Reviews "Drawing Autism is absolutely wonderful in its entirety." --Brain Pickings "Jill Mullin embraces the full range and spectrum of autism and artistic expression...Rich and varied images." --BookTrib "This book is like a key to opening doors across educational and medical landscapes. But perhaps even more importantly, the fact that many of the artists are able to explain what they were feeling at the time of their drawings will surely help this book find solid footing among parents, caregivers, and extended family members who have, up to this point, struggled to understand the inner workings of their precious loved one's autistic mind." --New York Journal of Books "A book of astonishing beauty." --BOOKS (France) "What is the actual experience of living with autism in a deep-felt sense, beyond the social stereotypes and headline-worthy superskills? Drawing Autism, a celebration of the artistry and self-expression found in artwork by people diagnosed with autism, explores just that. The stunning volume features works by more fifty international contributors, from children to established artists, that illustrate the rich multiplicity of the condition." --The Atlantic Over the last decade autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has become an international topic of conversation, knowing no racial, ethnic, or social barriers. Behavior analyst and educator Jill Mullin has assembled a staggering array of work from established artists like Gregory Blackstock and Jessica Park to the unknown but no less talented. Their creations, coupled with artist interviews, comprise a fascinating and compelling book that serves to educate and inspire anyone who knows someone diagnosed with ASD. Mullin's introduction and the foreword by best-selling author Temple Grandin provide an overview of autism and advocate for nurturing the talents, artistic and otherwise, of autistic individuals.
Challenging existing approaches to autism that limit, and sometimes damage, the individuals who attract and receive the label, this book questions the lazy prejudices and assumptions that can surround autism as a diagnosis in the 21st Century. Arguing that autism can only be understood through examining 'it' as a socially or culturally produced phenomenon, the authors offer a critique of the medical model that has produced a perpetually marginalising approach to autism, and explain the contradictions and difficulties inherent in existing attitudes. They examine and dispute the scientific validity of diagnosis and 'treatment', asking whether autism actually exists at the biological level, and question the value of diagnosis in the lives of those labelled with autism. The book recognises that there are no easy answers but encourages engagement with these essential questions, and looks towards service provision and practice that moves beyond a reliance on all-encompassing labels. This unique contribution to the growing field of critical autism studies brings together authors from clinical psychiatry, clinical and community psychology, social sciences, disability studies, education and cultural studies, as well as those with personal experiences of autism. It is essential and challenging reading for anyone with a personal, professional or academic interest in 'autism'.
War on Autism examines autism as a historically specific and powerladen cultural phenomenon that has much to teach about the social organization of a neoliberal western modernity. Bringing together a variety of interpretive theoretical perspectives including critical disability studies, queer and critical race theory, and cultural studies, the book analyzes the social significance and productive effects of contemporary discourses of autism as these are produced and circulated in the field of autism advocacy. Anne McGuire discusses how in the field of autism advocacy, autism often appears as an abbreviation, its multiple meanings distilled to various “red flag” warnings in awareness campaigns, bulleted biomedical ”facts” in information pamphlets, or worrisome statistics in policy reports. She analyzes the relationships between these fragmentary enactments of autism and traces their continuities to reveal an underlying, powerful, and ubiquitous logic of violence that casts autism as a pathological threat that advocacy must work to eliminate. Such logic, McGuire contends, functions to delimit the role of the “good” autism advocate to one who is positioned “against” autism.
"Autism is the first book on the condition that seeks to combine medical, historical and cultural approaches to an understanding of the condition. Its purpose is to present a rounded portrayal of the ways in which autism is currently represented in the world, It focuses on three broad areas: the facts of scientific research, including new ideas surrounding research into genetics and neuroscience, as well as the details of diagnosis and therapy; the history of the condition as it developed through psychiatric approaches to the rise of parent associations, neurodiversity and autism advocacy; and the fictional and media narratives through which it is increasingly expressed in the contemporary moment. Accessible and written in clear English, Autism is designed for student audiences in English, Disability Studies, Cultural Studies, History, Sociology, and Medicine and Health, as well as medical practitioners and the general reader. Autism is a condition surrounded by misunderstanding and often defined by contestation and argument. The purpose of this book is to bring clarity to the subject of autism across the full range of its manifestations"--Provided by publisher.
Social interactions of autistic and non-autistic persons are intriguing. In all sorts of situations people with autism are part of the daily life of those around them. Such interactions exist despite the lack of familiar ways of attuning to one another. In Autistic Company, the anthropologist and philosopher Ruud Hendriks—himself trained as a care worker for young people with autism—investigates what alternative means are sometimes found by autistic and non-autistic people to establish a shared existence. Unprecedented in scholarly work on autism, the book also reflects on how to talk about these unusual ways of getting on together. Drawing on methods from both the arts and the social sciences, this study covers very diverse sources, ranging from literary works to factual writing on autism in science and advisory literature, and from autobiographical accounts to ethnographic observations in a home for autistic people. “Putting familiar concepts to a test, Autistic Company wrenches and fiddles with the very distinctions that constitute our sense of self. By doing so, Hendriks succeeds in getting closer both to autistic and non-autistic extremes, showing how thin the division between us and them really is.” -L.W. Nauta in Krisis
