Autism and Classical Myth: On getting to 'every crossroads' in Leicester on November 30th

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, 21 November 2023

On getting to 'every crossroads' in Leicester on November 30th

I'll be heading to one of my academic homes next week, the University of Leicester, to talk about two 'paths' in my autism-related activities to date.

At a workshop at the University, I'll be presenting my - nearly out! - book of lessons for autistic young people based on Hercules.

Poster for my session at Leicester on November 30th, designed by Dan Stewart

I'll also be introducing my next project, which will pursue a 'Medusan' path.

Here I shall propose Medusa as a figure who can resonate with autistic ways of being. I'll set out how Medusa does this differently from Hercules, but at least as significantly. I plan to focus on how Medusa fits, notably, with being autistic and:

- self stimulation

- movement

- emotional intensity.

I visited Leicester in September 2022 for a Hercules-focused session which included an (opt-in) interactive activity. I'm planning to same this time round as well.

It's possible to attend online as well as in person. Email the address on the poster above or me via susan.deacy@bristol.ac.uk for information.

It is very likely that I shall be discussing several crossroads-rich images. Here's a taster:

Zbigniew Karaszewski, The Choice of Hercules 4 (2022) based on a 1603 illustration of the constellation by Johann Bayer sourced from Wikimedia Commons

A crossroads on the Zeus Housing Estate in Warsaw photographed by Maria Makarewicz

The cover of my book :)

Anya Laura, Medusa at the Interface Between Science and Arts, from S.Goffredo and Z. Dubinsky (ads.), The Cnidaria, Past, Present and Future: The World of Medusa and her Sisters, Springer 2016: ii