Autism and Classical Myth: Neurodiverse Classics: constructive connections

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.

Monday, 15 November 2021

Neurodiverse Classics: constructive connections

I write with news: this blog's topic will be on the programme of next April's Classical Association conference!

Back in the summer, I had a very enjoyable time building up a proposal along with a group of classicists beyond and within 'the academy' for a panel on neurodiversity and classics. I would have loved to have mentioned this at the time, but decided that I had better not, in case the proposal didn't find its way onto the programme.

But it wasn't turned down - we recently heard the good news that the panel has been accepted. And so I am now, at last, about to share the proposal. I'll start with an image from one of the hosts of the panel: Asterion, the Minotaur.

Asterion!

And here's the proposal:

The pandemic and lockdown have focussed attention on inequalities in society, and perhaps especially in the educational sector. Students in schools and beyond have reacted very variously to online provision, and some neurodivergent students have been able to flourish online. Social anxiety has been reduced, and different ways of learning have been accommodated (e.g. repetition of material via online hosting). This panel brings together students, lecturers, teachers and heritage professionals to explore ‘constructive connections’ between neurodiversity and classics.

In order to exemplify the kind of inclusive practices that work for many neurodivergent classicists, as well as for others, the panel proposes a variety of complementary formats. We plan a series of short, pre-recorded videos on the topics listed below, to be hosted by the CA in advance of and during the conference. Asterion, a new online space celebrating neurodiversity in classics, will host a series of blogposts as part of a week-long event on the theme of ‘constructive connections’, ideally in partnership with the CA. Comments and questions on these and on the videos will be invited from conference participants, and these will be addressed and discussed by a roundtable of the panellists, in a live online session of the conference. If the CA prefers that this live session be in-person, panel members will accommodate that, but it is important to note that the online dimension fosters and exemplifies good practice for neurodivergent classicists. Finally, panel members will be happy to staff a table or stall during the conference, in person, in order to engage in-person attendees with the videos and blog, and to foster further networking among those interested in neurodiversity and classics.