A week ago today, I was on my way to Liverpool – to take
part in a one-day conference around creating a curriculum 'for all' at John Moores
University. The curriculum in question was a History one although the
organisers, Peter D'Sena and Lucinda Matthews-Jones, embraced Ancient History and
Classics as well. They had invited me to discuss pedagogical
innovations that I’m involved in as one of a set of case studies.
From the initial blurb for the event, I could see that the focus
was to be on HE pedagogy but very much with a goal of exploring dialogues with
learning and teaching in schools. The case study I offered was on based on my
autism and myth activities. I stressed that this wasn’t going to involve me discussing
initiatives around university pedagogy, but rather that it would concern the
work I am involved in as part of the Our Mythical Childhood project’s investigation into the place of
classics in children’s culture.
I spent a bit of time introducing my interest in autism and
in myth and talking about how what I am doing sits within the work being done
by the Our mythical Childhood team. After this introduction, I stated that I was
going to be talking about the activities that I am developing for autistic
children based on the ‘Choice of Hercules’ at Roehampton. I then said that, rather
than sharing a PowerPoint, or a standard kind of academic handout, instead I
was going to send round one of the drawings that form part of the activities. This
was so that, as I was speaking further, the participants could have a go, if
they wanted, at doing the same things that the autistic children will do. With
this, people seemed delighted – a kind of ‘woooo…’ went round the room. I’m
including some of the resulting artwork in this posting.
There was time afterwards for just two questions – possibly
because I took so much time to answer these. I’d love to know what a third
person who’d raised their hand wanted to ask. If you’re reading this
posting, do get in touch (s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk) -likewise, anyone who was present who would like to comment on or ask
anything.
The two questions were both very interesting and I’m glad
that I noted them down afterwards or I might have forgotten what was raised. One
participant asked whether autistic girls have responded differently to the activities
than autistic boys. My answer was that I’d don’t yet know. But I am gong to
ponder on this and revisit the pilot study that Effrosyni Kostara and I
conducted last October.
The other question was from a participant who asked why
it is that autistic children like classical myth – given that it isn’t 'factual based'. This
question took me aback – and it has brought home to me something that is often thought
to be the case about autism – namely that autistic people are not likely to
have imaginations.
However, many autistic people have rich imaginations! And this
is one reason why many autistic people might enjoy such things as fantasy literature
and sci-fi and video games. Being asked the question is prompting me to revisit
the previous attention I’ve given to autism and the imagination, including in the
wake of the event with autism specialists that I’ve mentioned previously. The
question has also emphasised for me how deep some perceptions about autism go.
One final thing, linked with this… I had a chat at the end
with one of the participants whose nephew is autistic and loves classical myth - including, because it offers an imaginative space for him. The gateway to myth for this boy was Percy Jackson
– this strikes me as another example of how Rick Riordan has done a lot to open
up classical myth to a generation of children including autistic children.
Lots then for me to think about, including some things I've not (yet) written down - and plenty on which to follow up.
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