Autism and Classical Myth: ACCLAIM update including new member bios

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.

Tuesday 19 September 2023

ACCLAIM update including new member bios

There's been quite a bit of activity in the ACCLAIM (Autism Connecting CLAssically Inspired Mythology) Network lately including with the new or edited member bios.

ACCLAIM Members - the link for this site is below: please scroll down

New to the network are following wonderful people, all of whose interests and lives connect - in some way - autism and mythology:

Alexia Dedieu (Grenoble)

Effrosyni Kostara (Athens/Roehampton)

Oisín Parsons (UCD, Dublin)

Aneirin Pendragon (St Andrews)

Jerome Ruddick (Newcastle)

Meanwhile, the bio for David Welch (Texas) has been updated to reflect the two milestones of gaining a PhD and an academic job 🎓🎉

Please check out our bios plus photos showing us in touch with our younger selves and if you'd like to join, send me an email (susan.deacy@bristol.ac.uk)!