Main description:

Autistic people are empirically and scientifically generalized as living in a fragmented, alternate reality, without a coherent continuous self. In Part I, this book presents recent neuropsychological research and its implications for existing theories of autism, selfhood, and identity, challenging common assumptions about the formation and structure of the autistic self and autism's relationship to neurotypicality. Through several case studies in Part II, the book explores the ways in which artists diagnosed with autism have constructed their identities through participation within art communities and cultures, and how the concept of self as 'story' can be utilized to better understand the neurological differences between autism and typical cognition. This book will be of particular interest to researchers and scholars within the fields of Disability Studies, Art Education, and Art Therapy.

Contents:

Introduction Part I: Theories of Selfhood 1. Beyond The Cognitive (Cartesian) "I" 2. Constructing Autism Narratives 3. On Language and Autism 4. Augmentative and Alternative Communication 5. Constructions of the Autism Label and the Autistic Identity Part II: The Artist's Identity 6. Emerging from Anonymity 7. Gerone Spruill 8. Dan Miller 9. William Scott 10. R.B., Gender, and Policy