Autism and Classical Myth: Autism Acceptance Week - Saturday... Where I look back to my time studying at a haven for neurodivergent people

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.

Saturday, 1 April 2023

Autism Acceptance Week - Saturday... Where I look back to my time studying at a haven for neurodivergent people

I recently responded to a call for comments from alumni looking to start an advocacy group for Lampeter. The call asked what it was about the campus that made it distinct. One of my comments was that it's a haven for neurodivergent people.

2001 - in PhD gown with Keith Hopwood, my supervisor

I made some similar comments a few years back - in a posting I wrote after a visit back in February 2019 where I gave a talk about the activities I was developing for autistic children involving Hercules.

2019 - the start of a posting about a talk at Lampeter

1988 or 1989 - in Conti's cafe, during my first year

And then, when the editors of the alumni magazine, The Link invited contributions from former classics students where they looked back to their time as students, I sent in some memories and reflections. My comments were raw, not fully grammatical and from the heart. They've been published, alongside those of fellow former students in the current edition.

You can find them here - on page... Ah I can't actually share it I think, but here is a snippet mentioning my thirst to study myth and feeling at sea in early lectures: