Turning classical myth into a learning opportunity for autistic children - in Lincoln, Nebraska

Several of my postings over recent months have included prominent buildings in cities around the world - always for a reason that is, somehow, relevant to this blog. This particular posting kicks off with a photograph of one of the landmarks of Lincoln, Nebraska - the State Capitol. Here's why this particular city is, now, of relevance to my blog.

For just over a month I have been hoping - and itching - to share the following proposal for a conference paper. It's for a panel on "Learning Disabilities in the Classics Classroom" organised by Clara Bosak-Schroeder and Krishni Burns for the 2019 CAMWS (Classical Association of the Middle West and South) conference to be held in Lincoln.

I sent off my abstract around the middle of last month and have recently received the news that the panel has been accepted!

After lots of correspondence with US-based people for some years now in relation to my autism and mythology project, I'm very much looking forward to this opportunity to talk, in the US, about what I'm doing and planning.

Here, then, is my proposal.  


What would Hercules do? Turning classical myth into a learning opportunity for autistic children

Elitism runs deep in classics. Yet classics is changing, including through the work of democratically-minded classicists who are to seeking to surmount the structural and historical factors that perpetuate classics as a subject that excludes particular groups. This paper will concern a project I have developed to bring classics to a particular public: autistic children.

I shall briefly introduce the rationale behind my project, which I began after a meeting in 2008 with a Special Needs teacher who told me that, in the experience of herself and her colleagues, autistic children engage especially well with learning about an aspect of the classical world, namely its myths. I began thinking that this might be the case, and, then, started to wonder how I could contribute as a classicist whose key interest is in classical myth. My academic life was transformed from this moment, leading, for instance to a role as a disability co-coordinator and a blogger: https://myth-autism.blogspot.com/. Indeed, my paper will include a brief recommendation of blogging: for immediate dissemination of research, for reaching a wider public, and for the opportunity to develop a more reflective voice to complement the traditional, results-focused, voice that dominates academic writing.

Above all, I shall discuss the first of three sets of activities that I have developed to encourage autistic children to negotiate issues that, challenging for any child, can be especially difficult for those with autism. These activities centre around Hercules, a figure who, I shall show, has particularly rich potential to engage autistic ways of thinking and being. The activities are part of a European Research Council-funded project Our Mythical Childhood: The Reception of Classical Antiquity in Children’s and Young Adults’ Culture in Response to Regional and Global Challenges  http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/  (2016-2021).

The activities centre on the choice that Hercules is invited to make at a crisis point, when, on arriving at a strange place, he encounters two women who represent divergent paths in life.  As I shall show, the activities (eight in total) take the user through the episode: from the arrival at a strange place, to noticing certain things about the place, to noticing the two women. There are activities where users reflect on what the hero might be experiencing in his interactions with each woman. There are also activities which shift the perspective to the two women – and on how they seek to engage him. Then, finally, users move to the hero’s choice. As I shall show, Hercules chooses one path – yet he considers the other path as well. There is rich potential here for exploring different perspectives on a given issue.

Each path, as I shall show, will lead to a particular kind of future, one involving a life of pleasure, the other a life of struggle. Each user of the resources can choose a particular path – and they can do this by thinking about what Hercules would do, potentially helping themselves develop a theory of mind. Or they can make their own choice, and thus think about how their present can turn into the future.

As I shall set out, each activity is accompanied by educational goals which will help teachers decide which activity to use according to their goals and their students' abilities. These are divided in relation to the revised version of Bloom's Taxonomy of 'cognitive,' and 'affective,' goals, while a third part deals with the students’ social skills and how these are promoted through the activities.

I shall then share the outcome of a workshop, held autumn 2018, with specialists in autism research to seek expert feedback on the activities. When I come to market these resources more widely, the collaboration and endorsement of these professionals will be integral. I hope, too, that they will take up these resources for use in a therapeutic context.

After this, I shall discuss a pilot study of the activities with pupils aged 5-11 in a specialist autistic unit in a London state primary school. I shall end by outlining my plans for further pilot studies.

The Hercules activities I have developed are intended to be inclusive and thought-provoking – and fun. They offer an opportunity for autistic children to think about such matters as how to cope with new scenarios and change, and how to engage in decision-making. They also offer a gateway to classics for those whose access to shared aspects of culture can be particularly challenging.

Work cited

Anderson, L.W. et al. (ed.) 2001. A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. Pearson.

 

What would Hercules do? What happened when I went on an interactive mythological adventure

When I was towards the end of primary school, I heard about a type of fiction that intrigued me – the trouble was that I felt that it was not for me on two grounds. One was that the age range listed was younger than I was. At this time I was finding that literature I’d loved was no longer ‘speaking’ to me quite as it had previously. The second was that it looked to be very much for boys. When I had previously tried to take part in cultural activities gendered as male it had not gone well. 

But I did very much like the sound of this type of fiction. Here the reader would not follow a book from beginning through middle to end but could find their own path based on the outcome of a dice throw or their own choice.

I have finally, today, been reading such a book: Hercules and His 12 Labors: An Interactive Mythological Adventure written by Anika Fajardo and illustrated by Nadine Takvorian for the series You Choose:Ancient Greek Myths.[1]
 

I found out about the book when I was ordering another one, on a similar topic. This other book, currently out of stock, is mentioned at the end of this posting. 

I began reading hoping that the book could have the potential to ‘speak’ to me, including because of how it seemed to resonate with my work to date on autism and classical myth. I am invariably frustrated at books for children – or anyone – which narrate classical myth as though there is a 'true' version of any particular story. This goes against one of the most exciting things about classical myth – the flexibility of the particular stories – their fluidity – the way in which each teller creates the myth afresh. So, a book where the reader can find their own route had me intrigued.

What is more, the book’s topic has a really good fit with the specific topic of the first set of activities for autistic children that I have put together. These resources centre around a decision that Hercules had to make at a crisis point. Each path will lead to a particular kind of future for Hercules, one a life of pleasure, the other a life of struggle. Each user of the resources can choose a particular path – and they can do this if they want by thinking about what Hercules would perhaps do, potentially helping stimulate theory of mind. Or they can make their own choice, potentially helping them think about how the present can turn into the future.

The book is also about choosing. It doesn’t deal with the specific episode that my activities involve. Instead, the reader encounters Hercules as he embarks on his twelve labours. As the reader gets to a particular point they make a choice between what they, as Hercules, should do next. Here is what happened to me the first time I made a choice. I decided that, as Hercules, I would opt for a way of dealing with particular tasks that seemed to be more in keeping with the kind of choice that a modern reader might make. I ended up being killed and directed to begin again or turn to a section at the back of the book giving information about who Hercules was.

I returned to the start, and again, the choice I made got me killed. This happened two more times. In all I was killed by the Amazons after I tried to reason with their queen, by the Stymphalian Birds’ knife-like feathers, by the followers of Eurystheus, and by the Hydra’s teeth.

Then I realised what the book was trying to do. It was presenting me with a series of choices where, each time, the user either follows the myth and moves to another stage in the career of the hero or does something different and is killed. Thus, the book does not involve choosing as I envisage it in my activities – where diverse choices are each paralleled in sources for Hercules, and where the user can, though their own choices, create their own way though the story.

Thus the book is taking a different approach to choosing in relation to Hercules' adventures from the one I am taking. That said, the book might have a use in relation to the preliminary activity I have devised where the children use existing resources to build up an awareness of Heracles and classical myth that might deepen their appreciation of the activities. 

I wonder whether there might be potential for a different kind of interactive book where taking a 'wrong' choice doesn’t lead invariably to the hero’s labours and life coming to an abrupt end: where, for instance, a decision to reason with the Amazon queen rather than steal her girdle equips the hero to continue to a fresh stage in his career. 

I’m waiting for the arrival of another interactive book concerning Hercules, which my fellow Our Mythical Childhood researcher, Ayelet Peer, has recommended to me: Brandon Terrell’s, Greek Mythology's Twelve Labors of Hercules: A Choose Your Path Book.[2] I look forward to seeing how this book enables the reader to find their own path through Herculean mythology.

---

[1] Capstone 2017. 

[2] Terrell, Brandon, Greek Mythology's Twelve Labors of Hercules: A Choose Your Path Book (Can You Survive? series) Lake 7 Creative 2013. 

Resource Pack 1: The Choice of Hercules - draft version for consultation and feedback

As I have mentioned in the previous two postings to this blog, my autism and classical myth project is moving to a new phase, where I seek feedback on  the activities I have designed concerning the Choice of Hercules. To help with this process it seemed a good idea to update the versions of the activities that I presented via this blog earlier in the year. I have, therefore, created a document that presents the activities along with an introduction explaining what they are seeking to achieve.

The document is here, on Academia. If you're unable to access it, do let me know and I could send you the pdf.

The picture that starts this posting is one of those discussed in the activities: please see page 10 of the pdf.

Feedback welcome via this blog, via emailing me at s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk or via the Academic session I've started.



 

Autism and classical myth pilot study: breaking the news and introducing the researcher!

This is the second consecutive posting sharing good news relevant to my autism and classical myth work. As with the previous posting, this one concerns what I am now seeking to do, namely to start taking the activities around the Choice of Hercules that I have drafted into schools, where autistic children will have an opportunity to try them out.

The news is this. The University of Roehampton has provided funds for a pilot study of the resources. The study will be conducted by Effrosyni (Effie) Kostara, who has just been appointed as the Research Assistant for the project. It is my pleasure to introduce Effie!

Effie has a background both in Classics and in Education. Her first degree is in Classical Philology from the University of Athens. She then went on to gain a master’s degree in Applied Pedagogy from Athens. She is currently a PhD candidate in Adult Education at the Hellenic Open University writing a thesis that draws on both of her fields. The title is: Teachers’ Training in the Educational Use of Ancient Greek Tragedy for the Development of Learners’ Critical Reflection.

Effie has published papers, and delivered conference presentations, on the importance of critical reflection in adult education. She also has a role in training teachers in the use of ancient drama as an educational tool. She is currently working on a project involving the connection of pedagogy with the ideas of Socrates and Aristotle.

Effie is the co-editor of a forthcoming Routledge volume on transformative learning and is the translator, into Greek, of Knud Illeris’ How we Learn. She participated in an event at Roehampton on diversity, inclusivity and classics in autumn 2017 and is the author of a report of the event, published just a few days ago in CUCD Bulletin.

Effie is deeply interested in the use of classical texts for the development of more inclusive teaching approaches. Her work includes using drama for teaching people from ‘marginalised’ groups including prisoners and addicts. She is about to start work, on Monday 16^th July, in a different – though not unrelated – capacity at Roehampton as ERASMUS+ fellow to develop a module provisionally titled ‘Diversity in Ancient Greek Drama.’

I look forward to sharing further news about Effie and the pilot study!

Autism and classical mythology: workshop for autism experts

I am writing to post some news that I have recently received. This is news that will have an impact - potentially a huge impact - on my autism and classical myth project now that I have completed the first set of resources.

(For anyone checking for the first time, I have created a set of activities based around an episode in the myth of Hercules, a figure with vast potential in relation to autism - see easier postings for details, not least those from February 2018.)

I am going to be organising an event which will take place at Roehampton later this summer or in the early autumn. It will be for autism experts and practitioners, to seek feedback on the first set of resources. I'll share more in due course, but let me mention for now that those taking part are due to include some of the experts whom I have already mentioned in this blog - and whose work has inspired what I've been trying to do!

The image that heads this posting is of Senate House, the home of the Institute of Classical Studies. This is because it is thanks to the support of the Institute of Classical Studies that the event will take place. I applied recently for Public Engagement Grant to run the event and I heard a few days ago that the application was successful.

I am planning to hold the event in the Adam Room, the location of the Choice of Hercules chimneypiece panel on which the resources are based.

I intend to refine the 'Herculean' activities in light of this collaborative involvement. Then, informed by this input from the workshop, I shall begin work on my second set of activities. These will likely be connected with a different mythological figure, Medusa, and will include activities that include mask-making and music composition. 

As with the Hercules activities, these will be published on my blog for immediate dissemination. They will also, like the Hercules activities, be piloted in schools (on this pilot activity, please watch this space!).

It's thanks to the ICS that the event can happen! I'm honoured to be able to add their logo to my blog: