Autism and Classical Myth: Getting ready for 'Hercules and the autistic imagination: introducing the 'autism' strand of Our Mythical Childhood'

Why classical myth and autism?

Why classical myth and autism?

The idea for this project started to take shape at a meeting in 2008 with a special needs teacher, who mentioned that, in her experience and those of her colleagues, autistic children often enjoy classical myth. I began to wonder why this might be the case, and whether – as a classicist who researches, and loves, classical myth – there was anything I could contribute. I started this blog to report on my progress which was often sporadic until the launch of the Warsaw-based European Research Council-funded project Our Mythical Childhood (2016-22) to trace the role of classics in children’s culture.

My key contribution to the project is an exploration of classics in autistic children’s culture, above all by producing myth-themed activities for autistic children. This blog shares my progress, often along Herculean paths, including to a book of lessons for autistic children focusing on the Choice of Hercules between two very different paths in life. The image above, illustrating the homepage of this blog, is one of the drawings by Steve K. Simons, the book's illustrator, of a chimneypiece panel in a neoclassical villa at Roehampton in South West London. The lessons centre on this panel.

Friday 5 May 2017

Getting ready for 'Hercules and the autistic imagination: introducing the 'autism' strand of Our Mythical Childhood'

In just over a week, I shall be heading to Warsaw for the first of three conferences associated with the Our Mythical Childhood Project. The upcoming event is this one:

Our Mythical Hope in Children’s and Young Adults’ Culture... The (In)efficacy of Ancient Myths in Overcoming the Hardships of Life.

The aspect of 'mythical hope' I shall explore will be in connection with my research for the autism and classical myth strand of the OMC Project. I shall introduce the work I'm doing by setting out two key things underpinning my research: that teachers and other professionals welcome new ideas for their work with autistic children, and that classical mythology provides a rich source of such material. I will focus especially on the resources I am creating around stories of Hercules, especially his difficult journeys into fantasy lands and his comparably difficult experiences in the mundane world where he often remains an outsider. In particular, I shall explore the potential of these stories in:

Stimulating the imagination
Extending experience
Developing social and personal skills
Giving cultural experience
Aiding interaction with others

Last week I started an Academia session on the topic. If you'd like to join (I'd be honoured!), please go to: https://www.academia.edu/s/aac55062c5/hercules-and-the-autistic-imagination