Autism and Classical Myth: Autism Acceptance Week - Monday: ACCLAIM Network update

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, 27 March 2023

Autism Acceptance Week - Monday: ACCLAIM Network update

I said recently on this blog that my plan is to blog like I do gardening as of this spring, namely little and often.

The garden's coming on quite nicely and in April I'm going to try to plant a meadow. As World Autism Acceptance Week has started, I am going to escalate the blogging. I'll keep it going little and often but I'm aiming for little and often each day until Autism Day on Sunday (April 2nd).

I am going to start by giving a shout out to the ACCLAIM (Autism Connecting CLAssically-Inspired Myth) Network which is growing steadily - I'd try for a gardening metaphor here but it might seem a little forced?

Acclaim members: as at 27.3.23

So... for Day 1 of Autism Week, here's the link to the page of members to date. The most recent bio, of Robin Diver, was added just last week. We're an impressive range of people I think. Do check us out if you haven't already. We all look a little older than the photos...

And if you'd like to join, contact me via this blog or email at susan.deacy@bristol.ac.uk