Disability in SF: Resources on Autism
Jan. 13th, 2013 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
chordatesrock has helped me find some of these resources about autism, something I'm researching for my new series An Army of One: The Autistic Secession in Space. Some other folks have added things too. I put in the stuff about space and science fiction for convenience. I'm compiling a list here, for other folks who wish to write about these topics, suggest ideas for me, etc. or who are dealing with autistic spectrum issues in everyday life. If you have more resources -- especially from the perspective of neurovariant people themselves -- please share in comments.
Online Articles and Discussions
"About Rocking" discusses rocking as body language, particularly as used by autistic people, and how it can have different meanings.
Accessportrayal is a Dreamwidth community for people portraying characters with disabilities in the creative arts, in the interest of getting it right or at least not doing further damage.
An attempt to rewrite autistic criteria.
Autism on Wikipedia.
"Autism Gives Woman an 'Alien View' of Social Brains."
Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Autism spectrum post on Accessportrayal.
Autism symptoms.
Autism Women's Network.
"Autistic Women: A Life More Ordinary."
Ballastexistenz and Lisa Daxer aka chaoticidealism discuss their personal experiences from very different perspectives. Another counterpoint is Joe90 on Wrong Planet, with a less positive view of the neurovariant experience.
"Can Aspies show TOO MUCH emotion?" Forum discussion about emotional expression in people with Asperger's syndrome.
Communication Failure and Solution. An autistic person who often has difficulty expressing feelings or needs under stress cleverly addresses the challenge by writing down useful phrases (such as "Please stop talking for a minute." and "Angry for no reason") on a page that can be read aloud or pointed to at need.
"The Difference: Asperger's and High Functioning Autism." Forum discussion.
Emotions in people with Asperger's syndrome. Forum discussion.
Experience-based distinctions in autistic traits. Forum discussion.
"Feeling trapped sad hopeless frustrated/lost...LONG VENT" is a forum discussion begun by the mother of an autistic daughter who is severely unhappy at school, with a variety of input from other autistic people and parents of autistic children regarding likely causes of stress and what might be done to improve that situation.
"Flapping to Kalamazoo." A poem about hand-flapping as emotional expression among autistic people.
"Flapping Means Energy" talks about hand-flapping and how it expresses emotion in autistic people. In particular, the author notes: "I usually read autistic body language by looking at the torso. NTs [neurotypical people] read each other by looking at the face."
"On Happiness and Its Appropriateness" is a blog post explaining the suppression of emotion in neurovariant people by neurotypical people who disapprove other their methods. It includes a couple of videos of the "happy dance" with hand flapping and clapping.
The Loud Hands Project: Autistic People, Speaking.
"On the Scapegoating of Crazy: A Neurovariant Perspective on Recent Shootings."
"Thinking Like an Aspie" is a fascinating collection of personal traits and observations by Dreamwidth user Primeideal.
Thinking Person's Guide to Autism. Various articles about autism and interviews with autistic people.
"Understanding Autism: The Basics."
"What everyday misuse of power in the DD system can look like." An account of mistreatment by staff of an autistic person, presented as a typical example of what can go wrong, although the author notes that their regular standard of care is better than this.
"Women with Asperger's Syndrome."
"Women and Girls on the Autism Spectrum."
"Working on a job app" features an autistic person asking for help rephrasing straightforward concepts (such as "I will be the best at record-keeping for you because I'm basically obsessive about color-coding and the alphabet...") into more socially acceptable formats.
Tumblr Tags
#ableism -- for dealing with discrimination against people with handicaps of all kinds.
#actuallyautistic #actually autistic, and #autie - three tags for conversations by people with autism. See also the #ActuallyAutistic blog on Tumblr.
#art about autism -- for visual representations of autistic people and their experiences.
#askanautistic -- for asking questions of people with autism.
#asperger's nd #asperger's syndrome -- two general tags about Asperger's syndrome.
#aspie and #aspies -- two tags for people with Asperger's syndrome to share their experiences.
#autism -- a general tag about autism.
#autism awareness -- activism by autistic people and their allies to improve their circumstances.
#autism speaks -- mostly activism by autistic people to improve awareness and acceptance of their condition.
#autism spectrum #autism spectrum disorders, and #asd -- three tags for discussing the whole set of autistic conditions.
#difference -- a general tag about the feelings and effects of being different from most people.
#disability - a general tag about disabilities of all kinds, physical or mental, visible or invisible.
#disability pride -- an activism and celebration tag about identifying as a disabled person.
#disability rights -- an activism tag.
#high functioning - seems primarily focused on "high functioning autism" but may include other disorders with "high functioning" as a degree modifier.
#neurodiversity -- in support of the many ways that brains can work.
#neurotypical privileges -- for discussing the advantages people get just from thinking in common ways, and conversely, what people lose if they think very differently from those ways.
#neurotypicalism -- for discussing normative behavior and discrimination regarding how the brain works.
#nonhuman -- a general tag for people who feel that they have very little in common with ordinary Homo sapiens and/or identify as some other kind of person.
#privilege -- a general tag for perks that people get from pleasing society with their innate traits or performed actions.
#stigma -- a general tag for discussion penalties and discrimination for being different.
#stimming -- discussion and examples of stimulating behavior such as hand flapping.
Books
Maverick Mind: A Mother's Story of Solving the Mystery of Her Unreachable, Unteachable, Silent Son by Ph.D. Cheri L. Florance and Marin Gazzaniga. Nonfiction.
The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. Read a summary on Wikipedia. Science fiction novel about an autistic protagonist pressured to try an experimental "cure."
The Truth Machine by James L. Halperin. Read a summary on Wikipedia. Science fiction novel featuring a protagonist who is a genius with odd coping mechanisms. Society ultimately forces a "cure" on him.
Television, Film, & Other Entertainment
Arthur, the children's cartoon on PBS, has an episode featuring a special new friend with Asperger's syndrome. See "PBS's Arthur Makes a Friend with Asperger's," "George from ARTHUR Makes a New Frieng (and He Has Asperger's)," and "Watch the Asperger's Episode Online." This seems like a thoughtful and positive portrayal.
The earlier seasons of The Big Bang Theory are usually regarded as accurate, but still have a mixed reception within the autistic community, because apparently holding up an accurate example of an autistic person as something to laugh at doesn't sit well with them.
Glee portrayed a character whose Asperger's manifested solely as a desire and willingness to insult people. See Glee season 3 "Glee's Asperger's Plot Causes a Stir," "Asperger's Character on Glee, Anyone Else Offended?" and "Glee's Portrayal of Asperger's Syndrome." The consensus seems to be a ringing chorus of Not Like This! (Oh, it's on FOX Broadcasting. That explains a lot.)
"The World Inside the Crystal" by Steve Savitzky is a famous filk song about the perspective of computer wizards who feel more at home in cyberspace than in meatspace.
Some Space-Related References
Explore the galactic coordinate system. See the big map of galactic directions.
Galactic empires, or other powerful political entities that span more than one star system, are a common trope in science fiction. "Galactic Empire" (Princeton.edu) is more academic but well organized. "Galactic Empires" in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction is heavily cross-referenced. "Are Galactic Empires the New Middle Earth?" by James W. Harris in 2011 explores how current and historic politics have made their way into literature. "Galactic Empires" by Robert A. Freitas, Jr. is an older essay from 1983 with a literary focus. "Galactic Empires and the Contemporary Extravaganza: Dan Simmons and Iain M. Banks" by Christopher Palmer from 1999 discusses the implications of large political bodies in space.
Maps of the Milky Way Galaxy with the named arms labeled.
"Politics in Science Fiction" by John Frost. A brief essay and longer discussion in comments about political ideas in SF.
Space Travel by Ben Bova with Anthony R. Lewis. Nonfiction book. It covers methods achievable with known science and some extrapolation of other possibilities. There's also a sizable section on space habitats, which is useful for this series in general.
Spiral Arms of the Galaxy.
Star Drives in Science Fiction: A Catalog by Geoffrey A. Landis. A thorough guide to interstellar travel in science fiction.
"Superluminal: A Scientific Look at Science Fiction Stardrives" by Paul Lucas. (Scroll down; there is gibberish at the top.) Another guide to different types of interstellar travel.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-14 05:11 am (UTC)Hmm...
Date: 2013-01-14 05:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-14 07:42 am (UTC)Also, thank you for posting a list of SF resources that might help in ficcing your work.
You're welcome!
Date: 2013-01-14 08:16 am (UTC)Okay, I edited that part to say "some."
>>Also, thank you for posting a list of SF resources that might help in ficcing your work.<<
I'm glad you found the SF stuff helpful. If you need more, let me know. I loved the ficlet you wrote for "A One-Way Trip." You really got me thinking about that more.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-14 03:32 pm (UTC)http://primeideal.dreamwidth.org/8885.html
Thank you!
Date: 2013-01-14 11:29 pm (UTC)