Going the distance: a Herculean journey with Harry Rao via Disney and Michael Bolton

I've mentioned a few times on this blog what's happened on several occasions when I have explained to other autistic people why I am basing a set of lessons for autistic children on Hercules. 

When I give my reason for why, as I see it, Hercules can resonate with being autistic, responses have been in line with what the autistic academic Damian Milton said, namely: "that sounds like being autistic".*

Something different happened a couple of years ago when talking about Hercules with another autistic person. I found out that I myself didn't need to suggest possible links between Hercules and being autistic. For they had already made the connection independently of myself. 

Hercules 'goes the distance'** - Jan Baptist Borrekens (1611-1675),
The Apotheosis of Hercules after Peter Paul Reubens (1577-1640).  In the public domain.

The person in question was Harry Rao.*** At the time of the conversation, Harry had recently begun his degree in classical studies at Roehampton University. A year or so after that, Harry did work experience during the summer of 2022 with the Acclaim Network. 

Harry Rao during his mythical childhood

As part of this role, Harry wrote a piece for the Acclaim website. Here he reflected on how Hercules has resonated with him as an autistic person since he first watched Disney's Hercules, and as he has faced, and dealt with, successive challenges in life. However - and in keeping with my own sense of why Hercules can speak to dimensions of autism - it's not just about Herculean hardships as Harry sees it. For Harry also reports on how Hercules' "journey to greatness and fame" can serve as a source of autistic hope.

Here is the link to Harry's piece. 

I'm currently working with Harry again, for a further period of work experience, this time based around another mythological figure... on which, more soon...

* I reflect on what Damian Milton said in my forthcoming book. For now, the most detailed explanation of how Damian came to be in a position to hear my 'why Hercules?' explanation can be found here, in a piece I wrote for the Institute of Classical Studies blog in 2019.

** On going the distance with Hercules - c/o Michael Bolton - click the link in Harry's piece :)

*** Here's the link to Harry's Acclaim bio.

Getting ready to look back - and ahead - by sharing five publication covers

I have just been drafting a blog posting that reflects on my writing processes and on my PhD supervisor. It reflects, too, on fellow alumni from where I did my BA before that. These fellow alumni are, like me, academics with interests that include autism. 

I am not ready yet to write up the posting including because I have not yet worked out how to conclude it. For now though - including to help tie me in to completing it - here are the covers of five publications discussed in the posting:

 

More ASAP...

Plan B: slides for Fairer Societies

I was wondering about the best Plan B in case the slides I've emailed ahead of an event I'm taking part in on Saturday don't get through for some reason. Then I had this idea: put them into a blog post...

Here they are: they are for the workshop "Ancient World Studies and Fairer Societies" and, like several other taking part, I'll be talking about working with young people who are in PRUs (Pupil Referral Units). In my previous posting, I said a little about the event.

The labels for this postings seek to convey the range of things that I plan to mention prompted by these slides...

Preparing to talk about PRUs and a bit of Northern Soul at "Ancient World Studies and Fairer Societies" in Manchester this weekend

I have shared previously on this blog how much I loved running classical mythology-themed sessions at cultural sites for young people at PRUs (Pupil Referral Units). 

The first was with three primary school boys in spring of least year (2022) at the neoclassical Mount Clare in Roehampton in South-West London for the youth education programme Proud Places. 

The second, also in London - in Hampstead - took place a few months later, at Keats House, with boys from another PRU in London.

Keats House, once the home of the John Keats whose poetry and life (esp. the choice he faced between medicine and poetry) formed the focus of a Hercules-themed session with students from a PRU in London in summer 2022.

A seriously colour-coordinated me during my session at the Mount Clare temple with students from a PRU for the Proud Places youth programme in spring 2022.

A few months ago, I read the following notice about a workshop at the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies for classicists to discuss public engagement work including with PRUs:

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Public Engagement Workshop: Ancient World Studies and Fairer Societies 

An event hosted collaboratively between the Institute of Classical Studies and Manchester Centre for Youth Studies

https://ics.sas.ac.uk/events/public-engagement-workshop-ancient-world-studies-and-fairer-societies

This one-day workshop aims to share and discuss public engagement and policy work projects carried out within the fields of Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Ancient World Studies more broadly. We would like to hear from colleagues who have worked with and/or for young people (0-25 years) in areas of education, community, care, and policy. Themes and topics may include, but are not restricted to:

• Co-producing projects with young people;
• Community work to support and engage young people;
• Theatre and performance with young people;
• Work towards shaping education policy;
• Work with PRUs and marginalised or excluded young people;
• Projects with care-leavers;
• Work with young people with disabilities;
• Projects for and with LGBTQ+ Youth projects;
• Projects supporting and involving young people from BAME and/or less privileged backgrounds;
• Work with young refugees; 
• Projects around young people's mental health and wellbeing. 

There will also be time allocated to facilitate discussion of potential projects with participants and partners, with a view to fostering collaboration, creative thinking, and sharing of experience and networks. We anticipate the publication of an edited volume within a dedicated series, showcasing the work of Ancient World researchers and teachers in working towards fairer societies. 

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Enthused and exciting at this opportunity to share and connect, I responded as follows:

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I would deeply like to take part in this event - not least in light of the opportunities set out in the Call to connect with others and explore possible new collaborations. I have recently begun to run sessions shaped by classical myth at cultural sites - in London to date - for students at PRUs. I would like to take this work further in connection with lessons I have developed for autistic young people, especially for a book due out this year. I am also tentatively planning a project on classical myth, dancing and self-expression through Northern Soul with a music producer/DJ. I would love the opportunity to share my progress to date, see what potential participants think there might be looking ahead - and connect with others driven to seek to make a difference.

All best, and thanks in advance for any responses... 

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The result: I'm off to Manchester this weekend!

I'm able to attend due to the generosity of my colleagues in the Archaeology and Ancient History Department at Leicester University where I am currently an Honorary Visiting Fellow.

I'll be one of several people talking about working with PRUs. I'll say something briefly at least as well about the Northern Soul-linked project I mentioned in the message quoted above as well. I'm looking forward to hearing about the work and plans of others interested in making 'real world' applications of Classics. And I'm excited at the potential for exploring collaborations.

Watch this space...

Getting ready to arrive somewhere new for an autistic take on classical myth in London

Here's a very quick posting while I get ready to leave for London - to head to the London base of the University of Notre Dame near Trafalgar Square to teach students currently taking a module on classical myth in London.

I'll be talking about the (SW) London focus of the Hercules-focused lessons for autistic young people that I have designed and among the activities I'm planning for the students is a discussion of what it can feel like to arrive someone new. 

As I prepare, I'm myself gearing myself up to a new experience. I've never been to the University before and will be meeting the students for the first time - though their tutor is a friend, former colleague and fellow ACCLAIM member, Tony Keen, who I've known for many years - since 1993 I think...

More soon (I anticipate!)

Autism Acceptance Day - Sunday: where I look back and ahead, say more about ACCLAIM and possibly make up a new word to convey where I'm heading next

When I press send for this posting, I will have published seven in seven days, one for each day of Autism Acceptance Week. 

I've gone in quite a few directions, including: 

• talking about the potential in writing interactive mythological choose-your-own fiction 
• reflecting on studying at a college that was attractive to neurodivergent people 
• realising that the fit between a paper on Dance Movement Theory that I'll be writing for a conference in Coimbra later this year and the autism and myth activities I've developed/am planning is stronger than I'd realised.

I've not covered everything I thought I would. For example, on one of the days, I said that I was planning to write on Double Empathy Theory, but other things took over. But this will come: I am planning a new, post-Herculean, Medusean phase in my project - I just made up the word Medusean I think... - shaped by this Theory. 

I'm going to end where I started on Monday with the Acclaim Network. Since Monday, several people have joined, including from the UK, Ireland and the US. 

Acclaim Network as at 2nd April 2023 B-Mac

To date two new biographies are up - along with photos of the members' younger selves. Further bios will be added soon, possibly tomorrow.

Acclaim members as at 2nd April 2023: Mar-W

I'm looking forward to finding ways of networking. The scope is vast given the range of interests and connections including to give just a very quick sense of what connects us:

• writing fairy-tale dystopian novels 
• engaging marginalised students 
• exploring classical myth in inclusive children's fiction
• investigating ancient Greek mythology in popular culture
• mapping intersections of history, culture and neurodiversity
• discovering myth as a portal to other worlds
• innovating performance research
• negotiating intersections of neurodivergence, gender identity, sexuality and antiquity
• applying multidisciplinary pedagogies
• mapping classical receptions in sci-fi, literature and TV 

For more information - the above is far from complete - please read the bios here. 

I'll share progress in this blog...

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:

2023 - extract from the latest Lampeter Link

I'm planning another posting tomorrow - for Autism Acceptance Day itself...