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.
In early postings to this blog I noted that one possible area of research was into dramatherapy's potential to reach autistic people. I'm excited to note that, from tomorrow, I shall be taking the Dramatherapy Summer School at Roehampton.
3 comments:
An example of things coming together unexpectedly... Back in July of last year, I selected the particular image for this posting (mosaic, Musei Capitolini, orig. from Hadrian's Villa) because its depiction of the masks - and, symbolically-thinking, the essences - of tragedy and comedy, seemed fitting when I thought I might be about to gain wholly new insights into the meaning and potential uses of drama. On Friday (26.03.11) - just when I had been thinking about the possibility of using Athena's creation of music for the aulos out of the wailing laments of a gorgon as part of the pilot study I am envisaging - I was at conference on the aulos at Reading University for reasons not linked with the project. But I realised that I had overlooked the third object in the mosaic, which is depicted behind the tragic mask: an aulos, or better pair of auloi. I plan to post on the aulos, and further things gained from the Reading visit soon.
It took me a while: but I have now published a posting on the autos and the visit to Reading! http://myth-autism.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/art-noise-music-and-monsters-perseus.html
*Aulos even!
Post a Comment